Clarinetists Stephen Williamson and Todd Levy to join Bienen School faculty

Stephen Williamson, principal clarinet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Todd Levy, principal clarinet of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, will join the Bienen School of Music faculty as lecturers beginning September 2022.

Stephen Williamson has served as principal clarinet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 2011. He was formerly principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic (2013–14) and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (2003–11). In addition, he has been a frequent guest principal clarinet with the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra in Japan under Seiji Ozawa. Williamson has served on the faculties of DePaul University, Columbia University, and the Mannes College of Music in New York City, as well as at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, and the Domaine Forget International Music Festival in Québec. He has recorded for the Sony Classics, Telarc, CRI, BMG, Naxos, and Decca labels, and can be heard on numerous film soundtracks. An avid soloist and chamber musician, Williamson has performed extensively in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He has collaborated with such artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Mitsuko Uchida, Jeffrey Kahane, Anne-Marie McDermott, Emanuel Ax, and Meliora Winds; the Aspen, Dorian, and Sylvan wind quintets; and the Brentano, American, Jasper, Brasilia, and Dover string quartets, as well as with his fellow CSO musicians as part of CSO Chamber Players. He received his bachelor’s degree and performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music and his master’s degree from the Juilliard School.

Todd Levy is principal clarinet of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. A four-time Grammy Award-winner, he has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, the Mostly Mozart Festival, with the Israel Philharmonic, and at the White House. An active chamber musician, Levy has appeared with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Orion, Ying, Miro, and Miami string quartets. He has been a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and was a member of the Naumburg Award-winning Aspen Wind Quintet. Also in demand as a guest principal clarinetist with the top American orchestras, Levy has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, and frequently for Seiji Ozawa and Riccardo Muti in Japan at the Tokyo Opera Nomori and the Mito Chamber Orchestra. He has recorded for the Avie, Naxos, Boosey and Hawkes, Deutsche Grammophon, Sony, and Decca labels. He has co-edited and recorded the new print/CD editions of the Bernstein Clarinet Sonata and Finzi 5 Bagatelles for Boosey and Hawkes, and compiled the new 2021 Leduc compilation of French Conservatoire pieces. Levy has served on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School and is an alumnus of the New World Symphony and Marlboro Music Festival.

About the Bienen School of Music

One of the oldest degree-granting music institutions in the United States, the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University offers a unique education combining conservatory-level musical training with the academic benefits of a top-tier research institution. Boasting accomplished faculty and students who regularly garner major awards and honors, and offering a pioneering array of dual-degree and double-major opportunities, the school stands as a core component of Northwestern's distinctive combination of outstanding achievement in scholarship and the arts. Additionally, the world-class music making and other cultural resources of downtown Chicago provide exceptional opportunities for learning outside the classroom.

The Bienen School of Music is home to approximately 620 undergraduate and graduate students and a world· renowned faculty of 125, many of whom are members of the Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestras. Entering students on average rank in the top 10 percent of their high school classes and demonstrate academic and musical ability of the highest order. A Bienen School of Music education provides students with skills and values-superb musicianship, a mastery of communication, a sense of discipline, a commitment to excellence-that prepare them for success wherever their interests may lead. Alumni hold positions as performers, administrators, and educators in leading arts and educational institutions throughout the world. Toni-Marie Montgomery has served as dean since 2003.