糖心Vlog

School of Music

Will Stevens

Will Stevens
Instructor of Oboe
Browne 127
Email: WR-Stevens@wiu.edu

Will Stevens is the Oboe Instructor at 糖心Vlog, where he teaches private lessons, studio class, aural skills, and coaches chamber ensembles. His teaching philosophy emphasizes the development of complete musicians through ear training, historically informed performance, analytical curiosity, performance health, and professional growth.

An active orchestral performer, Will is currently 2nd Oboe with the Dayton Philharmonic. He recently completed his membership with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and has performed with prestigious orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke鈥檚, Elgin Symphony, and Quad Cities Symphony. As a chamber musician, Will has been a fellow at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Viva Bach Peterborough Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Kent Blossom Music Festival. He recently participated in two iterations of Priya Fink鈥檚 chamber music series 鈥淭he Middle鈥�, where he arranged several pieces of music for oboe and ensemble. Will is also a strong advocate for contemporary music and has commissioned several works for oboe by composers including Benjamin Webster, Lily Koslow, and Zihan Wu.

He is currently in the post-residency period of the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the Yale School of Music. Will's doctoral research at the Yale School of Music explores intercultural approaches to the music of T艒ru Takemitsu, examining how timbre, gesture, and perception can provide alternatives to traditional Western analytical frameworks. Will earned a Master of Music degree in Oboe from Yale, where he studied with Stephen Taylor, and a Bachelor of Music in Oboe from UCLA, where he studied with Jonathan Davis.