STEPHEN WILLIAMSON has been named to the New York Philharmonic’s Edna and W. Van Alan Clark Chair as principal clarinet, effective in September 2013. He will succeed STANLEY DRUCKER, who held the post from 1960 to 2009. Williamson is currently principal clarinet at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in which capacity he has served since 2011. From 2003 to 2011 he held the principal clarinet post in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and on several occasions has been guest principal clarinetist with Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra. As a soloist and chamber musician Williamson has performed extensively in the U.S. and Europe. He has recorded for the BMG, CRI, Decca, Naxos, Sony Classics, and Telarc labels, and was featured soloist with the CSO, under the baton of John Williams, in that composer’s Oscar-nominated score for the Steven Spielberg film Lincoln. Williamson has also served on the clarinet faculty of Columbia University and the Mannes College of Music in New York City. Grand prize winner of the Boosey & Hawkes/Buffet Crampon North American Clarinet Competition in 1994, he holds a bachelor’s degree and a performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music and a master’s degree from The Juilliard School.
Stephen Williamson photo by Todd Rosenberg
Posted February 15, 2013
