Following the 1995-96 season with the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra, his first as Music Director, Mr. Alltop received the Illinois Council of Orchestras Programming of the Year Award.  He was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago in 1997.  Stephen Alltop has served on the conducting faculty at Northwestern University since 1992 and as Music Director of the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra since 2000.  His guest conducting engagements have included the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra, West Shore Symphony Orchestra, Wyoming All-State Orchestra, Lake Forest Symphony, Lyra Concert Baroque Orchestra, Kenosha Symphony, Peoria Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Omaha Symphony Orchestra.  In the summer of 2003, his European debut with the Toscanini Foundation Orchestra in Bologna, Italy featured four world premieres and was broadcast on Italian Radio and Television.

 As a keyboard soloist, Mr. Alltop has appeared with numerous orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta, Omaha Symphony, Sheboygan Symphony, Symphony II, and at the Ravinia Festival.  As an orchestral musician, he has performed with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Joffrey Ballet, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Milwaukee Symphony, and the Minnesota Orchestra. Stephen Alltop has served as Scorereader for six television productions by WTTW Chicago featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and has performed on numerous radio broadcasts on the WFMT Fine Arts Network, and the Chicago classical station WNIB.

 A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Stephen Alltop holds Master of Music degrees in Choral Conducting and Organ from the Eastman School of Music. He also received a Bachelor of Music degree and Performer's Certificate from Eastman, where he graduated with Highest Distinction.  He holds the Doctor of Music Degree in Orchestral Conducting from Northwestern University, where he studied with Victor Yampolsky.  Dr. Alltop's dissertation was one of the most extensive studies to date on contemporary practices in orchestral programming.  During the summer of 1988, Mr. Alltop was a Conducting Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival with Paul Vermel.  In 2001, he was selected as one of six participants in the National Conductor Preview of the American Symphony Orchestra League.