Steven Lynch was born and raised in the enchanted hills of Woodstock, New York, among
the "Native energies and animal spirits," where according to the composer, "made themselves
apparent to me at an early age through visions only I and not my family could see." Lynch
accounts much inspiration in connecting to the land and energies wherever he might be
creating and composing, but admits his home town being one of the most powerful places he
has known.
Under the guidance of Vladimir Feltsman, one of the greatest pianists of this day, Steven
was indoctrinated into the Russian piano school. Feltsman arranged for Lynch to study with
Lev Natochenny, who comes from a line of teachers that leads only three generations to
Franz Liszt and Tchaikovsky. (Oborin, Igumnov and Siloti being the direct line to Liszt).
In addition to his classical studies, Lynch was a passionate Jazz and world music student and
from his early days was cultivating a style merging European classical traditions and American
music into something close to what Gunther Schuller termed as third stream.
Beside his voracious interest in Avant-garde classical and Jazz music, pop culture also had
place in Lynch’s influence, but it wouldn’t be until later that this aspect would surface in his
work. After attending Manhatten School of Music for a stint as a double major in
composition and piano, Lynch decided it best to follow an auto-didactic path regarding his
continuing studies. This began his days as a free wheeling young NYC artist, haunting
everywhere from the underground downtown scene to the Metropolitan Opera and New
York Society, always remaining aloof to either worlds, but remaining true to the world of
his music and imagination.
In 2004 Lynch started in a new direction, in the composer’s own words, "I felt the need to
step out of myself, and go to a more vulnerable place creatively within my work. There is
vitality in pursuing something that you always thought you would never do. For me it was
singing. Sure I could write music for any singer, but could I find a voice in myself which
dances with my music in an authentic way. I didn’t want anybody to teach me how to sing,
I was more interested in finding a voice true to what I felt as a human being. It was essentially
folk in spirit. Its what I deem to be American, that there is no one else that can say what you
say the way you say it."
This year has been a major turning point for Steven Lynch with the completion and release
of ÒThunder And Sun,Ó his first full production album. It marks a breakthrough for the
vision of a young American artist on the rise. Lynch also had a piece included in this years
Venice Biennale, one of the worlds largest international modern art exhibitions. Steven Lynch
has performed his music at Carnegie Hall, The Egg Auditorium, The Newport Music Festival,
and has been presenting work monthly at The Series at The Gershwin Hotel, as part of the curated
evenings of NYC underground culture there.