Illinois State University School of Music is excited to welcome alum Steven Allen Fox ’98 back to campus. Fox will premiere and conduct his work Emotica for Symphony Orchestra on the Sunday, March 24 Illinois State University Symphony Orchestra concert at 3 p.m. in the Center for the Performing Arts.
Fox is an innovative concert creator, conductor, producer, and composer, and has conducted or produced over 100 premieres of new compositions and suites. He received a bachelor’s degree in music from Illinois State University, majoring in music theory and composition, and also has a graduate certificate in film and television scoring from the University of Southern California.
In 2002, Fox founded the Golden State Pops Orchestra where he has had the privilege to be principal conductor for “The Magnificent Movie Poster World of Drew Struzan,” the Varése Sarabande 35th Anniversary Concert Gala Series in Los Angeles, and “A Spoonful of Sherman: A Symphonic Concert.” In the summer of 2022, Fox made his debut on the stage of Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Film Orchestra. He has conducted the San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Film Orchestra, the Silly Symphonies Orchestra, Hollywood Studio Symphony, Golden State Pops Orchestra, Tenerife Symphony, and the Video Games Live Orchestra. Special engagements have included “Disney’s The Little Mermaid Live in Concert” with the San Francisco Symphony, Guest Conductor for the international film music festival “Fimucité” in Tenerife, Spain, and assistant conductor for the world premieres of “Beauty and the Beast In Concert,” “The Little Mermaid Live in Concert,” and “Coco Live-to-Film Concert Experience,” and also cover conductor to Maestro John Mauceri for “Nightmare Before Christmas Live to Film” at the famed Hollywood Bowl in 2023.
As a composer, Fox has provided scores for multiple feature films and shorts, and has had the opportunity to work with some of the most influential composers and artists in the industry. He helped to win the Independent Film Channel award for animated short for The Artist by Ian Dale. His compositions include a wind quintet, multiple arrangements for concert band, and selections for symphony orchestra.
In the program notes for Emotica (2024), Fox shares how personal experiences led to the concept of the mulit-movement piece which has been a work in progress for him for nearly 24 years. “I enjoy diving into human emotion and psychology, and to communicate a wide array of experiences, such as fear vs. triumph or joy.”
Fox will be presented with a School of Music Outstanding Alumni Award at the orchestra concert.
The program for Sunday’s concert also includes Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 (1888) composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, conducted by guest conductor Useon Choi; and Buenos aires: Carpe Diem (2014) symphonic movement composed by Claudio Alsuyet, conducted by Glenn Block.
Under the music direction of Glenn Block, the ISU Symphony Orchestra performs six concerts each year, including the community favorite Music for the Holidays, the annual Concerto-Aria concert, and an opera or musical produced in conjunction with the Illinois State University School of Theatre and Dance.
