Clarinetist STEVEN JACKSON was born in Chicago where he began playing at age nine. He studied with Harold Wright at Boston University, receiving awards for special achievement in performance from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. He was a member of the Boston Wind Quintet which won five first prizes in international chamber music competitions, including the Coleman and Fischoff. For nine seasons he was principal clarinetist of the Shreveport (LA) Music Festival and subsequently appeared at the Athens (Greece), Blossom, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, Rockport, and Tanglewood festivals. He has been a frequent participant in the Monadnock Music Festival, premiering works of Elliott Carter, Gyorgi Kurtag and others. In Massachusetts, where Mr. Jackson now lives, he has appeared with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Springfield Symphony, and touring orchestras including those of The Royal Ballet Company of Great Britain, Linda Ronstadt, The Irish Tenors, and Diana Krall. Presently he serves with the Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Ballet, and is principal clarinetist of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Nashua (NH) Symphony, Orchestra of Indian Hill, and Granite State Symphony. Solo appearances have included live performance on WGBH Radio’s Morning Pro Musica program, unaccompanied solo recitals, and the concerti of Carter, Copland, Martin, Mozart and Weber. His recordings appear on CRI, Dorian, Gasparo, Marlboro Recording Society, and Sony Classical labels. Steven has taught at UMass-Amherst, Walnut Hill, and the Manchester NH and Winchester MA Community Music Schools.
