Stephen B. Shipps, Professor of Violin at the University of Michigan, studied with Josef Gingold at Indiana University, receiving a BM and MM in violin performance. He also studied with Ivan Galamian and Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School and with Franco Gulli at the Academia Chigiana in Siena, Italy. He has appeared as soloist with the symphony orchestras of Indianapolis, Dallas, Omaha, Seattle, and Ann Arbor, as well as the Piedmont Chamber Orchestra and the Madeira Bach Festival. He has been a member of the Cleveland Orchestra, Associate Concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony and Concertmaster of the Dallas Opera, Concertmaster and Associate Conductor of the Omaha Symphony and the Nebraska Sinfonia, and guest Concertmaster for the Seattle, Toledo, and Flint symphony orchestras. Mr. Shipps has served as violinist of the Amadeus, Meadowmount and Kapell Piano Trios.

Mr. Shipps has recorded for American Gramophone, Bay Cities, NPR, RIAS Berlin, Hessiche Rundfunk of Frankfurt, Melodia/Russian Disc, and Moscow Radio. His work on the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Albums has yielded a dozen gold and two platinum records. He has recently signed contracts for multiple releases of discs on the Naxos Label, both as soloist and chamber musician.  Mr. Shipps’ printed editions  are published by E. C. Schirmer in Boston, Encore Press in Detroit, Amos Editio in Prague, and Lauren Keiser Music Publishing in New York. 

He has adjudicated major national and international competitions for over three decades and serves on the Board of Directors for the Sphinx Competition and on the Advisory Panel of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, where he is also the Host of the video simulcast on Internet 2 and the audio/video feed on the web and radio. Mr. Shipps has served on the faculties of Indiana University, the North Carolina School of the Arts and the Banff Centre in Canada.  He is regularly invited to give master classes at the Prague Academy of Music in the Czech Republic and the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe in Germany.  He founded and directs the International Music Academy Plzen/CZ, now in its sixth year.