Music Department
University of Wisconsin Whitewater
welcome admission academics faculty facilities ensembles Student Information events contact usStephen Boelter - Founder
Stephen Boelter (1948-2010), grew-up in Wauwatosa, WI and graduated from Wauwatosa West High School in 1966. Following his BBA from UW – Whitewater in 1970 and architectural studies at UW – Milwaukee, he established Boelter Design Group in 1982 in Milwaukee to provide residential and commercial design services. In 1990 he moved his firm to Madison and later received an MS (in interior environments) from the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
He was trained as an interior designer, including interior architecture. He became a national leader in wayfinding techniques that would help people navigate more intuitively through large institutional environments like healthcare organizations, academic settings and corporate campuses. His innovative design sense in living and workplace environments provided a combination of efficiency, enlightenment and aesthetic pleasure for his clients.
Stephen’s passion was music. That passion led him to be involved as First Vice President of the Grand Junction Symphony and as a board member of KAFM Radio. Mesa State College Wind Symphony and the Grand Junction Symphony provided him outlets for his clarinet performance.
Together Stephen and Karen initiated a young musician’s festival at Mesa State College where high school age musicians from all over Colorado would gather to perform with guest conductors, performers and composers. Each year Stephen and Karen commissioned a new piece of music that is given its world premiere by Mesa State Wind Symphony. Based upon the model at Mesa State, the program was initiated at UW-W in the spring of 2009.
He and his wife Karen Combs maintained residences in Wisconsin and Colorado. In 1999, they moved to Grand Junction, CO where they especially enjoyed hiking, biking and skiing.