Oboist Will Stevens is currently based in Chicago, performing as a regular member with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He is also currently in the post-residency period of the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the Yale School of Music. Recently, Will has performed with prestigious orchestras including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Elgin Symphony, and Cape Symphony. An avid chamber musician, Will just finished a summer fellowship with the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and has also participated in other festivals including the Viva Bach Peterborough Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Kent Blossom Music Festival.

Will has a passion for educating and has taught music privately to students ranging from age 6 to 21. While at Yale, he maintained a private studio of undergraduate students, as well as middle school students from the greater New Haven area. In the summer of 2023, he was a teaching artist for the Morse Summer Music Academy, an intensive program for New Haven public school students in grades 6-12 where he provided instruction in flute, clarinet, oboe, saxophone, and music theory. During his masters and doctoral studies, Will was a teaching assistant for graduate music theory and music history courses. His doctoral thesis explores an intercultural approach to analyzing and performing the work of Tōru Takemitsu, using timbre and gesture as a replacement for traditional Western modes of analysis.

He holds a MMus from Yale studying under Stephen Taylor, and a BMus from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied with Jonathan Davis. In 2019, Will made his solo debut in Royce Hall with the Goossens Oboe Concerto after winning the UCLA All-Star Concerto Competition. While in Los Angeles, Will held positions in the Redlands Symphony, American Youth Symphony, and Debut Chamber Orchestra. He has also performed side-by-side with the Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Long Beach Symphony. As a chamber musician, he participated in UCLA’s Gluck Woodwind Quintet, and the American Youth Symphony Woodwind Quintet. Will freelances around the midwest and teaches oboe.