Oboist Will Stevens is currently based in Illinois, performing as 2nd Oboe with the Dayton Philharmonic. He recently completed his membership of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Will has performed with prestigious orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Elgin Symphony, and Quad Cities Symphony. An avid 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’s chamber music series The Middle, where he arranged several pieces of music for oboe and ensemble.

Will Stevens is the Oboe Instructor at Western Illinois University, where he teaches private lessons, studio class, aural skills, and coaches chamber ensembles. His teaching philosophy emphasizes the development of complete musicians through mindful listening, historically informed performance, analytical curiosity, performance health, and professional growth. In addition to his collegiate teaching, Will has maintained a private oboe studio with students ranging from young beginners to adult pre-professionals.

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 Tōru Takemitsu, examining how timbre, gesture, and musical perception can provide alternatives to traditional Western analytical frameworks. Will earned a Master of Musical Arts degree in Oboe from Yale, where he studied with Stephen Taylor, and a Bachelor of Arts in Oboe from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied with Jonathan Davis.