Saturday, March 16, 2024 on the campus of SIUE

Featured Guest artist is Dr. Stephen Clark

Flute Professor at Northwestern State University and the author of the Flute Gym

Recipient of the 2016 Sir James Galway Rising Star Award, 1st Prize winner of the 2018 IMKA Music Competition and 1st Prize winner of the 2018 Alexander & Buono International Flute Competition, Stephen Clark has given over a thousand performances across all 7 continents and made his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2018. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Northern College of Music and in Switzerland with Sir James Galway. Stephen is the Flute Professor at Northwestern State University.

Regularly invited to perform at flute festivals across the globe, he has given solo recitals at the Conventions of the British Flute Society, the National Flute Association of America, the Sir James Galway Flute Festival in Switzerland as well as the Florida Flute Convention, Wisconsin Flute Festival, Mid-South Flute Festival and Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention in the USA. He has been the Guest Artist at countless flute festivals, flute days and events in the United Kingdom, United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Solo engagements have taken him to over 120 countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Turkey, Israel, Finland, Canada, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Croatia, Thailand, Germany, Netherlands, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Egypt, China, Libya, Malta, Poland, Lithuania, Japan, Australia, Belgium, France, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Jordan, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Seychelles, Maldives, Malaysia, Brazil, Norway, Iceland, Korea, Peru, Vietnam, Greece, Slovenia and the U.S.A. He has performed as solo flute player alongside several popular music artists including Annie Lennox, Andrea Bocelli and pop band McFly. As an orchestral player, Stephen has held principal flute positions and performed as Guest principal flute with major symphony orchestras of the United Kingdom, United States, Portugal, Ireland and Vietnam. He has worked with many significant conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Neeme Järvi, Sir Simon Rattle, Jorma Panula and Sir Mark Elder.

In addition to his performing schedule, Stephen is invited frequently to give masterclasses and workshops for flute players around the world. Stephen is proud to be an Ambassador for the Music for Youth Initiative of Scotland and Honorary President of the Lisburn Flute Orchestra in Northern Ireland- the 1st cross community ensemble of its kind promoting peace and the fight against sectarianism.

As well as his recital and concert appearances internationally, Stephen has been invited many times to perform on some of the world’s most luxurious cruise liners and has performed concerts for Seabourn, Holland America Line, Silversea, Princess, Crystal, Azamara, Celebrity, P&O, Oceania, Cunard and Regent Seven Seas cruise lines.

Stephen has recorded for Classic FM, Amadeus, Linn Records and for the Naxos label and broadcast live on Northern Ireland’s 7FM and BBC Radio 3. He has released 2 solo albums on the Voyage Record Label. In 2015, Stephen was accepted into the Recording Academy of America and is now a voting member in the Grammys. Stephen has appeared on screen as the flute player in both the BBC’s period drama series “Desperate Romantics” and ITV’s feature film “Miss Marple – The Secret of Chimneys”. He is author of “The Flute Gym” – a manual for advanced flute players.

In 2023, Stephen was awarded a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Alabama. He is a Yamaha Artist and plays exclusively on a 14k gold handmade Yamaha flute.