Recognized internationally as one of the finest practitioners of traditional East European Jewish klezmer violin, Steven is also one of the foremost composers and teachers of traditional klezmer violin music in the world today.  His current project Stempenyu's Dream involves a CD recording of his original Jewish and klezmer violin compositions, a series of concerts of the music and a future publication of the material. One of the first American born klezmer violinists to create a program and performance style based entirely on the repertoire of European klezmer violin music, Steven co-founded the Khevrisa ensemble together with the cimbalist, Walter Zev Feldman in 1998. Steven has performed internationally with Khevrisa and other notable klezmer ensembles such as the Klezmatics, Budowitz, the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, Kapelye and Di Tsvey (the Greenman/ Rushefsky duo). His own ensemble, the Steven Greenman Klezmer Ensemble is dedicated to performing his own compositions and the transitional Jewish/Moldavian klezmer repertoire.

photo by Ted Huddle

Steven has collaborated with New York dancer/choreographer David Dorfman and the Cleveland State Dance ensemble as musical director in Dorfman's "Moving Histories", a modern dance piece dealing with Jewish identity, and performed with members of the Klezmatics in the 1997 performance of Tony Kushner's adaptation of S. Ansky's "Dybbuk." Steven has lectured and performed at the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow, Poland and has been a regular performer with various ensembles at Toronto's Ashkenaz-A Festival of New Yiddish Culture.

In addition to his involvement with klezmer music Steven is known for his passionate performances of East European Gypsy music.  He is an accomplished performer of urban Gypsy violin styles, in particular, Hungarian nota, Romanian lautari music and Slovak folk music and has devoted his life to the study of East European violin style and ornamentation.  A performer in the Harmonia ensemble, Steven's intense study of East European folk music has brought him into contact with professional Gypsy and folk musicians from Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine and he has transcribed hundreds of tunes.  In addition to performances with Harmonia Steven has been a regular guest soloist with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra performing his own arrangements of traditional East European Gypsy violin music in Cleveland's prestigious Severance Hall.  Steven has also performed his East European Gypsy Violin Showpieces with the Canton and Akron Symphony Orchestras.  Steven will be featured on a forthcoming CD of urban Romanian Gypsy violin music together with Harmonia's cimbalist, Alexander Fedoriouk.

As a classical violinist Steven received both his Bachelor of Music (1989) and Master of Music (1991) degrees in Violin Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music studying with Linda Sharon Cerone, Dr. Eugene Gratovich and the late Bernhard Goldschmidt.  Steven has also performed as a member of the Canton and Akron Symphony Orchestras and has participated in the National Repertory Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.

Steven is lead performer, composer and producer of the recording "Stempenyu's Dream."  Together with Walter Zev Feldman, Steven co-produced and is featured on the recording "Khevrisa-European Klezmer Music" on the Smithsonian Folkways label. Steven has also recorded with Budowitz, guitarist Jesse Cook, vocalist Lori-Cahan Simon, vocalist Ludmila Sorin, violinist Alicia Svigals and the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band.  Steven's compositions can be heard on various modern klezmer compilations.