{{Short description|English classical mandolinist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Alison Stephens | image = | image_size = | landscape = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1970|3|1|df=y}} | birth_place = Bickley, Kent | death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|10|10|1970|3|1|df=y}} | death_place = | genre = Classical | occupation = Musician | instrument = Mandolin | years_active = 1987-2010 | label = Chandos Records | website = [http://www.alisonstephens.com/ Alisonstephens.com] }} '''Alison Stephens''' (1 March 1970 – 10 October 2010) was an English classical mandolin player and film musician.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.astute-music.com/alisonstephensobituary.html|title=Alison Stephens Obituary|website=Astute-music.com|accessdate=12 May 2019}}</ref>
==Biography== Stephens was born in Bickley, Kent, and educated at James Allen's Girls' School and Haileybury and began playing the mandolin at the age of seven, inspired by her father, who had played the instrument during the Second World War.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/8064905/Alison-Stephens.html Obituary: Alison Stephens], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 14 October 2010</ref> She was the first graduate in the instrument from Trinity College of Music in London.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/04/2009_38_mon.shtml|title=BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour|website=Bbc.co.uk|access-date=12 May 2019}}</ref> She gave her first public performance of a concerto at the Barbican Hall in 1987 and subsequently gave recitals all over the world. She played for opera and ballet companies and was a performer on the scores of films such as ''The Queen'', ''The Golden Compass'', ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin'' and ''Fantastic Mr. Fox''.
==Death== Stephens was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2008,<ref>[http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Musician-and-fundraiser-loses-cancer-battle.htm Cambridge News] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401000900/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Musician-and-fundraiser-loses-cancer-battle.htm |date=2012-04-01 }}</ref> and was treated at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. After undergoing a second round of treatment in 2009 with a new form of radiation therapy, tomotherapy, she made a full recovery and spent much of the last two years of her life fundraising for cancer charities. In June 2010, the cancer returned and she died at the Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge on 10 October that year.
==Discography== *''Souvenirs for Mandolin and Guitar'' (2009) with Craig Ogden (guitar) *''Calace Concertos Nos.1 and 2'' (2007) with Steven Devine (piano) *''Tapestry'' (2003) with Lauren Scott (harp) *''Con Espressione'' (2004) *''Mandolin Concerto in G'' (2001) *''Music from the Novels of Louis de Bernières'' (1999) with Craig Ogden (guitar) *''Music for Mandolin'' (1991)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|2905424}} * {{cite web|url=http://www.alisonstephens.com/|title=Alison Stephens, Classical Mandolin|website=Alisonstephens.com|accessdate=12 May 2019}} * [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/28/alison-stephens-obituary Obituary in ''The Guardian'']
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Alison}} Category:1970 births Category:2010 deaths Category:People from St Neots Category:People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Category:Alumni of Trinity College of Music Category:Deaths from cervical cancer in England Category:People educated at James Allen's Girls' School Category:Musicians from Cambridgeshire Category:British classical mandolinists Category:People from Bickley Category:20th-century English classical musicians Category:21st-century British classical musicians Category:21st-century English musicians Category:20th-century English women musicians Category:21st-century English women musicians
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