Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Matthews.
Stephanie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I remember being captivated by the violin while watching a performance on television when I was about three years old. My mom loves listening to gospel music and my father loves listening to classical music so those were my two greatest musical influences from a very young age. I fell in love with the sound of the violin and I literally begged my parents every day to let me play until they eventually enrolled me in private lessons a year later. My younger sister and brother played the piano and cello respectively, and our family piano trio performed a lot at church and at local events in our community. Growing up in the DC Metropolitan area, I was a student in the DC Youth Orchestra Program and the Levine School of Music. When I think about those formative years, I am really grateful to have had so many fantastic music teachers and enriching experiences through those music programs, including traveling to New York City for the first time, performing for various embassies and dignitaries, and performing at the White House.
One of the most memorable experiences I can recall was meeting Sheila Johnson and learning that she was a violinist prior to becoming the co-founder of BET. My student quartet at Levine had been invited to the BET headquarters to perform on-air and I just remember being beside myself with excitement about being on television! I later learned that Mrs. Johnson generously offered to pay for my music instruction at Levine to ensure that my studies would not be interrupted due to financial hardship. She was also the Mistress of Ceremonies for my very first solo performance with orchestra at my church. I carry her generosity and kindness with me to this day because I vowed to myself that I would somehow find a way to “pay it forward”.
I started my company StringCandy when I moved to Los Angeles in 2012. After teaching and freelancing for many years in NYC, and after completing an artist residency abroad, I decided that I wanted to take a leap of faith as an entrepreneur. I hadn’t found the type of success that I desired following the traditional classical career path and I found myself doing more and more string arranging and contracting for various mainstream artists, including tour dates, televised performances and recording. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to build impactful relationships with various artists, music directors, composers, etc. and my work has enabled me to travel the world and collaborate on so many incredible projects! I’m very grateful to be able to do what I love for a living!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
While in graduate school, I co-founded a string quartet called The Ebony Strings Quartet with three other black women. We really enjoyed performing new music and regularly performed throughout New York City. I always loved chamber music and I really admired the careers of various professional quartets like Guarneri, Emerson and Kronos. We weren’t making much money at the time and one of the members left the group to pursue other professional endeavors. Ultimately, the quartet started to pull apart which was very difficult for me because I was so invested in the group and couldn’t really see myself professionally beyond the quartet.
I then decided to move abroad for an artist residency to help develop and launch a performing arts academy. I loved teaching but missed being able to regularly perform. After two years, I decided to move back to the US, but this time I decided to head to Los Angeles because I needed a fresh start. I didn’t really make any money my first year as a small business owner but I learned a great deal about industry standards, pricing and money management.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
StringCandy is an entertainment company that specializes in creative consulting, original arrangements and transcriptions, and musician staffing for various live performances, recordings, tv/film and tour placements. StringCandy musicians have made appearances on popular television and award shows and have worked with a wide variety of recording and performing artists across various genres of music. Earlier this year, I had the privilege to help put together an all-black, all-female orchestra for Lizzo’s opening performance at the Grammy Awards. I think what really sets my company apart is our ability to work with various types of clients with various types of budgets and having an international roster of musicians to help address the unique needs of a variety of projects.
What were you like growing up?
I was always a very independent, head-strong kid. When I discovered my love of the violin and for music in general, I can recall trying to learn how to play melodies of my favorite songs on the violin and piano, picking out the harmony lines and often memorizing every nuance of a song, from the instrumental embellishments to the vocal ad-libs and everything in between. I liked to listen to various recordings of the same song to hear the different interpretations. Some of my favorite extracurricular activities were visits to the Clearwater Nature Center, Howard B. Owens Science Center and planetarium, and playing soccer.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stringcandy.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/stringcandymusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stringcandymusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/stringcandy
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