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Biography

Stephen Alltop is celebrating his 29th season as Music Director and Conductor of the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra. Under his direction, the ESO has presented performances of many landmark orchestral works, including Symphonies 1, 2, 3 and 5 by Mahler, Beethoven’s nine symphonies, and explored music by composers of diverse backgrounds. The ESO has been recognized for its excellence in programming by the Illinois Council of Orchestras, which also named Stephen Alltop Conductor of the Year in 2022. Stephen also serves as Music Director and Conductor for the Apollo Chorus of Chicago and the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Alltop has been a member of Northwestern University’s conducting and keyboard faculties since 1994 where he conducts the Alice Millar Chapel Choir and the Baroque Music Ensemble. 

Stephen Alltop has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as both a harpsichord and organ soloist, and performs frequently with Chicago’s Music of the Baroque. He has played with Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society, Chicago Sinfonietta, Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, Joffrey Ballet, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and the Omaha Symphony. 

Dr. Alltop has guest conducted orchestras and choruses in the United States, Europe and South Korea. In June of 2022, he stepped in on four hours’ notice to lead the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in a concert that was broadcast live on WFMT.  He returned to conduct the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in August of 2023. Alltop has led world premieres of works by John Luther Adams, Stacy Garrop, Stephen Paulus, Joseph Schwantner, and many others. Dr. Alltop lectures frequently about music for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Northwestern University Alumnae Continuing Education Series. Since 2014, he has given presentations on leadership for various programs in the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern.  

Stephen is an avid squash player and baseball fan, and recently completed a personal fitness goal of running ten marathons and twenty half marathons over a ten-year period.