Steve Mason was born in Bath, England in 1962 and studied trumpet at The Royal College of Music, in London, from
1980-1984 under David Mason (no connection).
He moved to Portugal in October 1984 having won the audition in London for the position of principal trumpet in the
São Carlos National Theatre Orquestra, a position he held until the orchestra finished in 1992.
He was principal trumpet in the Portuguese Symphonic Orchestra from 1993-1997 and from 1997-2017 principal trumpet
in the the Gulbenkian Orchestra at which time he retired from the orchestra.
He has played in all the major orchestras in Portugal.
As one of the first trumpet players to play baroque trumpet in Portugal, he has played many orchestral and solo concerts
on that instrument.
Since 1998, when the course for trumpet started at the Escola Superior de Musica de Lisboa, he has taught trumpet there
and frequently gives masterclasses all over Portugal.
He has composed and arranged sporadically for the last 2 or 3 decades, mainly for brass groups, but has had more
time to compose since his retirement from the Gulbenkian Orchestra and particularly during the pandemic.
He is married to Julie an English lecturer at the Universidade Nova in Lisbon and has two children Geoffrey and Maddy.