Among Stephan's students were the musicologist Reinhold Brinkmann (1934-2010), as well as musicologists Rüdiger Albrecht, Regina Busch, Károly Csipák, Klaus Ebbeke, Thomas Ertelt, Werner Grünzweig, Heribert Henrich, Reinhard Kapp, Ulrich Kramer, Claudia Maurer Zenck, Adolf Nowak, Wolfgang Rathert, Christian Martin Schmidt, Matthias Schmidt, Martina Sichardt, Lotte Thaler and the teacher Bernd Riede.