Roberta Stephen Award.
The Roberta Stephen Award, worth $1,000, offers support to a Canadian woman composer aged 36 or older for professional development such as further studies, conferences, or workshops, or composers’ festivals.
The prize was created by the generous provision of composer and publisher Roberta Stephen and is administered by the Association of Canadian Women Composers. One award in the amount of $1,000 is available this year.
Eligibility.
Candidates must have a history of public presentation of their work, and must be:
Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada
36 years of age or older
Finished their basic training in music (university graduation or equivalent in specialized training) and either be ready to undertake a professional career, or, having already attained a professional level, be undertaking advanced studies
Previous award recipients are welcome to apply; however, should a first-time applicant and a previous award recipient submit applications of equal merit, preference will be given to the first-time applicant
Activities should occur within a maximum of two years after the award has been announced
Winners of the Roberta Stephen award are strongly encouraged to become members of ACWC if they haven’t already done so. To join, check out our membership page.
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Programs or activities that focus on the composer’s professional development such as:
Acquiring new skills through further studies, workshops
Increasing one’s profile and gaining wider exposure at conferences, composers festivals
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8th Annual Roberta Stephen Award Winners: Sophie Dupuis & Robyn Jacob
7th Annual Roberta Stephen Award Winners: Carmen Braden & Heather Hindman
6th Annual Roberta Stephen Award Winners: Mari Alice Conrad & Jennifer Thiessen
5th Annual Roberta Stephen Award Winners: Alexandra Fol & Hyun Hee Deborah Park
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Award winners are required to submit a report on how the award has assisted them in their work as a composer. This report will be published in the ACWC Journal.
9th Annual Roberta Stephen Award
Applications for this year’s award opening soon!
Application deadline – November 30, 2025
Award amount — $1,000 to one winner
Award decision communicated – January 15, 2026
How to apply.
Applicants must submit the following materials via the form below:
Completed application form
Description of professional development program/project
Curriculum vitae
List of works
Scores and recordings of at least three of their works in electronic format (e. g. mp3, pdf) for a maximum of ten minutes of music
Applications will be adjudicated by an international panel of women composers. If you have any questions, please contact Janet Danielson (jrd@sfu.ca).
About Roberta Stephen
Roberta Stephen was born in Calgary in 1931. Although her musical training began early, it was only after the births of her four children that she began pursuing her music career in earnest. She began with voice lessons with Eileen Higgin, soon discovering a passion for music composition. She received her Music Composition degree from the University of Calgary in 1973. Later, she pursued an MA in Voice Concentration from the University of North Texas, graduating in 1988.
Throughout her university education Roberta maintained a successful private music studio. She continued to teach students into her 80’s – some of whom were second generation students. Many went on to successful careers as performers and teachers. As part of the celebrations of Alberta’s 75th Birthday, Roberta formed a partnership of music colleagues, receiving a grant in 1980 to publish a book of piano pieces by Alberta composers. This publication was the precursor to the Alberta Keys Music Publishing Company, which continued publishing until the company was sold in 2014.
Roberta will be remembered for being instrumental in establishing the first chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing in Canada and founder of the Contemporary Showcase Festival Calgary, as well as being a major supporter of New Works Calgary. She received three lifetime achievement awards from the Alberta Registered Music Teachers Association (2014), the Association of Canadian Women Composers (2019), and the Canadian Music Centre (2019).
In 2002, the Prairie Region of the Canadian Music Centre celebrated her music career, recognizing also her generous efforts to promote the work of other Canadian composers. In 2014, the Canadian Music Centre in conjunction with NATS and ARMTA (Calgary Chapters) held a tribute to Roberta featuring several of her compositions. Following this concert, the Roberta Stephen Award was established in order to assist women who, like Roberta, had an atypical career trajectory and as such were unable to access grants and awards which were available for young composers.
