About Steve
Steve Rothstein, PhD
is active as a composer, music instructor, and lecturer in the Los Angeles area.
He received his doctoral degree in Music Composition from the University of California, Los Angeles (2006) where he also completed his master’s and bachelor’s degrees. Dr. Rothstein has written numerous works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, wind ensemble, choral groups, and art songs. His works have been performed by the American Youth Symphony, UCLA Philharmonia, UC Irvine Symphony, Redlands Symphony, Riverside Philharmonic, Bratislava Studio Symphony, and the New York Master Chorale. In 2008 his oratorio Hymn of Light received its international premiere in China.
Interest in Judaic music led Dr. Rothstein to study at the Brandeis-Bardin Collegiate Institute (1996), and then onto a one-year study program at the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) in Arad, Israel (2000-1).
Dedicated to promoting Jewish culture through music, he has devoted the majority of his choral music to Hebrew texts.
His works include settings for Psalm 27, Psalm 21 and 23, numerous Hanukkah pieces, and art songs based on a variety of Hebrew poetry. He served as the Artistic Director for the Judaic Sacred Music Foundation from 2014-2023 where he was commissioned to compose Symphony No.1 JUDAICA (Days of Awe), a four-movement symphony utilizing liturgical melodies and motives derived from the Jewish High Holy Days services. The symphony has been fully recorded and recieved its world premiere in fall of 2022 with the Riverside Philharmonic Orchesta in California.
As a professor, Dr. Rothstein has lectured on a broad range of music topics including: music fundamentals, diatonic and chromatic harmony, 20th-century techniques, modal and tonal counterpoint, form and analysis, style-composition, aural skills, orchestration, film score analysis, and composition.
Teaching Experience
Dr. Rothstein has taught at Los Angeles Valley College, the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach, and California State University, Dominguez Hills. He has also lectured for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Adult Outreach Program. He currently teaches at Santa Monica Community College, University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, and UCLA Extension’s prestigious Film Scoring Program where he won the 2013 Distinguished Instructor Award.
