Stephan Haluska (he/they) is a Cleveland-based harpist, composer-performer, music technologist, and concert producer. As a harpist, he draws from the instrument’s unique textural, physical, and kinetic qualities. Viewing the harp as a frequently misunderstood and underrepresented instrument in contemporary music, he often rejects conventional modes of playing in favor of finding new ways to expand his sound palette. Stephan plays with an advanced vocabulary of extended techniques and preparations, which explore the use of various tools, materials, gadgetry, and household objects, attached to or suspended from the harp as he interweaves elements of found sound, assemblage, sound art, and movement into his artistic practice. Stephan embraces technology within his practice. Through laptop electronics, Stephan creates systems to process the sound of acoustic instruments.

Stephan is on faculty at Case Western Reserve University’s Department of Music, teaching digital music composition, where he also serves as technical director for CWRU’s Experimental Sound Lab. The lab’s current project revolves around Brain-Media, where they use electrodes to measure brainwave activity and sonify it in real-time. Turning the brain into a musical instrument.

Since 2021, Stephan has led Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project (CUSP) as Managing Director. CUSP is dedicated to strengthening the artistic engagement of the Northeast Ohio community by championing the creation and performance of new and experimental music through concert programming and other events.

Stephan has been selected for artistic residencies at Soaring Gardens, No.Such.Thing.As.Noise, and Behind Glass. Stephan has released music with esteemed labels Infrequent Seams and Constellation Tatsu. Stephan holds an MFA in Harp Performance with a concentration in Improvisation from Mills College in Oakland, California where he studied with Zeena Parkins, Roscoe Mitchell, and James Fei, and studied with Elainie Lillios, Christopher Dietz, and Mikel Kuehn at Bowling Green State University, where he received a BA in Music Composition and Theory.