Bil Jackson

Principal

Bil Jackson enjoys a varied musical career that includes solo, orchestral, and chamber music appearances. Mr. Jackson is the principal clarinetist with the Colorado Symphony and the Aspen Chamber Symphony and has performed as principal clarinetist with the Pittsburgh, St Louis, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Honolulu Symphony Orchestras. He also has appeared as a soloist with the Colorado, Honolulu, Denver, Charlotte, Dallas Chamber, and Aspen Chamber orchestras.

Mr. Jackson is currently professor of clarinet at the University of Northern Colorado and is on the Artist-Faculty of the Aspen Music Festival. He has also served on the faculties of the University of Texas, University of Colorado and Duquesne University. Mr. Jackson studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he won the Academy’s Concerto Competition three times and was awarded the gold medal for superlative musicianship upon graduation. He continued his formal study at Northwestern University with Robert Marcellus. Additionally, he became the only player ever to win the International Clarinet Competition twice, and he was a finalist in the Prague International Clarinet Competition.

Currently, Mr. Jackson performs recitals and presents master classes throughout the United States and abroad. In August of 2008 he was a featured artist at the Japan International Clarinet Festival. During the 2009-2010 season he presented master classes at Northwestern, Manhattan, Eastman, and the Colburn schools of music.

Mr. Jackson commissioned, and premiered with the Honolulu Symphony, Dan Welcher’s Clarinet Concerto which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in music. He subsequently returned to the Honolulu Symphony to record the concerto for the Naxos label. During the 2008-2009 Colorado Symphony season Bil premiered Kevin Puts’ clarinet concerto with Jeffrey Kahane conducting. Additionally he performed the Puts via a live NPR national broadcast from the Aspen Music Festival's 2010 season. The Puts concerto is slated to be recorded for Naxos as a joint venture with the Baltimore symphony, Marin Alsop conducting in April, 2012.

Mr. Jackson teams with pianist Bill Douglas to present concerts that synthesize jazz, classical, and contemporary formats. Together they record for the Hearts of Space label. Mr. Jackson’s chamber music affiliations include performances/collaborations with: David Shifrin, Ida Kavafian, Cho-Liang Lin, Peter Wiley, Emanuel Ax, Milan Turkovic, Stephen Hough, Awadagin Pratt, Anne Marie McDermott, Eugenia Zukerman, Steve Prutsman, Pamela Frank, Ransom Wilson, Sharon Isbin, Robert McDuffie, Toby Appel, Bill Douglas, American String Quartet, and the Miami String Quartet.

Additionally, he is a guest artist with the Music from Angel Fire, Bravo! Colorado, Chamber Music Northwest, Chamber Music Unbound and Sunflower chamber music festivals and has toured with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society and the Australian Chamber Music Festival. Additionally Mr. Jackson performs and records in Japan with the Tokyo Bach-Band which presents the music of Bach in a modern musical format. Mr. Jackson is sponsored by both Yamaha and Rico and is in the final stages of helping Yamaha design its CSG line of professional clarinets.