Friends of Allan D. Stephens

Al 1984

Some secret (and not-so-secret) facts about Mr. Allan D. Stephens

Allan D. Stephens was born on June 2. The year is classified.
The "D" stands for "Durand."
He grew up in Springfield, Illinois and played clarinet and bass clarinet in the Springfield High School Band.
He started his college career at Northwestern University in Illinois and was (and remains) a proud member of the NUMB (Northwestern University Marching Band) Alums. He completed his undergraduate work at Southern Illinois University.
He served in the US Air Force.
After his military service, he entered law school at the University of Texas in Austin, where he played in the Longhorn Marching Band. The director of bands coerced him into changing his major from law to music. It is also at UTA that he met Mary Lou.
Upon completing his music and education requirements, he began his teaching career in Edinburg, Illinois. He followed that with a teaching stint (Band and Social Studies) at Lago Vista, Texas.
He completed a Master of Education in Music at Southwest Texas State.
He began work on a PhD in Music at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, where he met Associate Professor James Curnow, who, at the time, was working on composing a commissioned piece to be performed at the farewell concert for Ken Schubert, the retiring director of bands at Model Laboratory School in Richmond, KY. The piece was titled "Analects," later retitled "Seacliffe Overture." Mr. Curnow encouraged Mr. Stephens to pursue the vacant position at Model and you should know what happened after that.

Thanks to Mary Lou Stephens for her help in compiling this article.