Martin Stephani, born in 1915 in Eisleben, Germany, was a conductor. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik Berlin from 1937 to 1940 under Walther Gmeindl, Fritz Stein, and Kurt Thomas. During World War II, Stephani served as a music referent in the SS-Führungshauptamt and directed the Stabsmusikkorps der Waffen-SS. After the war, he founded the Marburger Kantorei in 1948 and later became the director of the Nordwestdeutsche Musikakademie in Detmold from 1959 until his retirement in 1982. Stephani's notable recordings include Anton Bruckner Te Deum und Giuseppe Verdi Te Deum (1976), and he led various orchestras such as the Philharmonia Hungarica and the Landesjugendorchester Nordrhein-Westfalen. He received the Kulturpreis der Stadt Bielefeld in 1980. Stephani passed away in 1983.
