Stephen Tafra
In 2008 he was part of the world premiere of God’s Drawing Board, music by Elena Kats-Chernin, libretto and illustrations by Ralph Steadman.
Guitar duo EphenStephen (with Stephen Thorneycroft) have released two CDs. GuitArmidale which comprises all original works written for the duo by Australian composers from Armidale and the Goldberg Variations, the duo's own arrangement of this masterpiece.
He has recorded with the ABC, both as solo guitarist and ensemble player, premiering new works. He has also worked in folk, jazz, rock, music theatre and radio drama.
Stephen has taught guitar at the University of New England, the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and James Cook University. He is currently teaching in various schools in Armidale. He is always in high demand as a teacher due to his accomplishment as a guitarist, and his ability to relate to and inspire his students.
Stephen Tafra began his formal musical studies at the University of New England with Vic Bofinger after having had lessons with Randolph Koder.
He went on to the Queensland Conservatorium of Music where, under the tutelage of Julian Byzantine, was awarded a Graduate Diploma in Instrumental Performance. During that time he performed in master classes given by guitarists of the calibre of John Williams and Ruben Riera.
His ability as a guitarist has been endorsed by his being finalist on two occasions in the Australian Classical Guitar Competition. "Stephen Tafra is a strong player with a big sound." (Courier Mail). "He is a player of tremendous flair and talent, offering extremely musical performances coupled with virtuosic flair and accuracy" (Julian Byzantine).
From 1991-1996 he was co-member of the New England Guitar Duo with Mark Bromley. In that time they toured extensively throughout Australia, playing at the Opera House, Montsalvat and the Darwin International Guitar Festival, as well as giving recitals and classes at many Universities and Colleges. Their repertoire consisted almost entirely of original arrangements of the Beatles, Bach, Shostakovich, Rodriguez, Albéniz, Brubeck, Gershwin, Debussy, De Falla, Santana, Adler and Ross, Barrense-Dias and Mozart. New music played an important role in their concerts, with compositions by Mark Bromley, Phillip Houghton, Leo Brouwer and Toru Takemitsu.
New England Guitar Duo
In 1996 he joined the Celtic group, Tursachan, which consisted of Alison Cone and Ruth Martin on vocals, Mark Campbell on percussion and didjeridoo and Stephen Tafra on guitar and piano accordion. Within months of their formation they played at the prestigious Woodford Folk Festival.
Other projects include musical director of Man Of La Mancha for The Armidale School, and recording a new work Descendant Lines for two piano accordions by Steven Campbell. In 1998 he performed Antarctica for guitar and orchestra by Nigel Westlake and an arrangement of Pirates of Penzance for trumpet, clarinet, baritone sax, bass, drums, guitar and piano. He served as conductor with the Armidale Youth Orchestra, playing his own arrangements of Freddie Mercury's Bohemian Rhapsody, as well as works by Westlake, Prokofiev, Bernstein and Copland. In 2003 he performed in a production of Richard Harvey and Ralph Steadman's 'Plague and the Moonflower' which received high acclaim at the Woodford Folk Festival.
Performing Plague and the Moonflower at the 2003 Woodford Folk Festival
