Stephen Portman

Stephen Ivan Portman (born 1 January 1935 in Mount Vernon, New York) is an American conductor and pianist, educated also in Italy and Finland.

He studied with Pierre Monteux and subsequently on a fellowship with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra.

He moved to Finland and continued his studies at the Sibelius Academy with conductor Jussi Jalas in 1962–1964.

He's also conducted in Italy, Denmark, USSR, Czechoslovakia, South Africa and the USA.

In 1977, he moved the England and has conducted the BBC Singers and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Birgit Nilsson at The Proms.

Stephen Portman and the Russian pianist Grigory Sokolov examining a car engine in Finland, 1967.