The Sonic Voyage of a Saratoga Tennis Coach

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Born in France, raised on classical music, reborn amongst rockers in New York City, and now settled into the soulful life of a singer-songwriter, Stephen Thirolle is far from your average tennis coach.

“They’re both ways for me to play, intellectually [and] physically,” Thirolle told Saratoga TODAY about his twin endeavors: playing tennis and playing guitars. “Cooperative play lives in both worlds and has freedom in both of these worlds. It’s a cool thing. I’ve only come to appreciate that in my adult life. As a kid, I didn’t really see them as two bridges to the same place. But now I kind of do.”

Thirolle is an assistant tennis coach at Skidmore College, where he serves as “the on-court guy,” playing and traveling with the team. He also has private clientele and runs summer tennis camps on Skidmore’s campus.

He was the recipient of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Assistant Coach of the Year Award in 2018, and he won the United States Professional Tennis Association’s College Coach of the Year Award in 2019. Before all that, he was captain and MVP of his high school tennis squad, achievements that allowed him to continue playing the sport at Middlebury College. 

But music reigns supreme as his greatest passion.

“I’m sure I’ll drop my tennis racket before I drop my guitar,” Thirolle said.

The tennis guru began studying classical piano at the tender age of five. An early teacher was Stanley Hummell, a revered concert pianist who lived most of his life in the Capital Region and performed at both Carnegie Hall and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

“He was 6’8’ with a shock of white hair, a real gentleman,” Thirolle recalled. “That was an amazing experience, having a Gandalf-like figure being my musical mentor.”

While he was learning to tickle the keys, Thirolle’s house was filled with the varied sounds of world music. Russian folk, Swiss yodeling, samba, Charlie Byrd, Stan Getz, Beethoven, and Bach were all part of the budding musician’s sonic diet. But he also engaged in a covert operation inside his bedroom, listening to pop music on the radio at a low volume, lest his superiors should hear. During this clandestine activity, Thirolle would be introduced to the cerebral folk-rock of Bob Dylan and the psychedelic, orchestral sounds of The Beatles. He eventually became hungry to add more instruments to his repertoire.

“I learned all those band instruments on my own after I was raised with classical piano,” he said. “It was easy for me to learn guitar. It was easy for me to play the drums. I was very fluid and learning super-fast.”

After college, Thirolle embarked on a 20-plus-year sojourn to New York City, where he said his adult self began to emerge. He fell in with some rockers, played in bands, and experimented with songwriting.

“In New York, I tried to write really hard rock,” Thirolle said. “I was very impressed with all my friends who were down at Don Hill’s and Brownies and CBGB. They were playing that hard rock, and I was like, ‘Oh, I can do that too.’ But that was never necessarily my bag. I think I wanted to write songs that could stand on their own and not have to have a band behind it. I think that everything I write now is a standalone song that has bones, structure. I can play it on my own. It satisfies. It hits.”

A journey from classical to pop to rock has resulted in the acoustic-driven, singer-songwriter sound of Thirolle’s latest EP, “The Waters and the Wild,” released in May 2025. With shades perhaps of John Lennon and Dave Matthews, the album’s vibe feels like it’s somewhere between breezy and pensive. Some of the tracks draw inspiration from sources as varied as the poet W.B. Yeats and the cities of London and Barcelona. Other songs, such as “In New York City” and “Darling Luna,” are directly inspired by Thirolle’s own life.

Although Thirolle has bounced around from France to the Capital Region to New York City to Europe, he ultimately chose to settle here in Saratoga Springs. The Skidmore tennis coach and moonlighting musician moved here with his wife to begin his “family phase.” His wife founded a local hair salon. His father-in-law plays bass in his band. His daughter probably isn’t old enough yet to play an instrument, but perhaps one day she will.

In the meantime, Thirolle is eager to keep recording, writing, and performing. He played at the Grateful Den in Glens Falls last month and is already booked for two more shows at Saratoga Winery later this year.

“The Waters and the Wild” is available on streaming platforms such as Spotify and Bandcamp. 

For more info, visit Stephen’s website: stephenthirolle.com.