Stephen Ian Savage

clarinetist ~ composer ~ teacher ~ producer

Bio

Stephen Ian Savage lives in Austin, Texas where he works as a prominent clarinetist, composer, teacher, arranger, and producer.

As a clarinetist, he is a currently playing with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Austin Symphony Orchestra, and Austin Civic Orchestras. He has also advanced and placed as a finalist in the New Mexico Philharmonic 2023 Bass Clarinet Audition. He champions new and obscure works while pushing the technical and musical limits of the instrument. His playing has been featured on several feature-length and short films including Mark of War, My "Friend" Mick, and The Next Kill.

As a composer, his works explore thought-provoking and intensely emotional subject matter, tending to be 'cinematic' in style, influenced by film composition, live staging, and interactive media. He's composed music for a number of short and feature length films. Most recently, he collaborated with Nøkken + The Grim to score the film Blight, which is currently streaming on Tubi. He also works closely with and arranges music for Austin’s Sienna String Quartet.

Stephen Ian Savage is the co-director and composer-in-residence of the highly-acclaimed Auricle Chamber, a diverse ensemble dedicated to performing new and underrepresented chamber music. The inaugural concert was also a world premiere of two of his pieces: And Thus for Piano Trio and Overhead Freeway for solo violin.

He performs as an electronic artist, multi-instrumentalist with the band Nøkken + The Grim. He also teaches composition, music theory and clarinet in the Austin Independent School District, the Waldorf School, and his own private studio. He formerly taught as the music theory director at Clavier-Werke School of Music South.

Stephen studied composition from award-winning film composer, Brian Satterwhite, who hosted "Film Score Focus" on KMFA, Austin. Stephen holds a BM in Clarinet from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of music, and his former clarinet teachers include Jonathan N. Gunn, Richie Hawley, and David H. Thomas.

He is an advocate for equity in music education and for the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities and currently serves on the DEI committee for the Austin Civic Orchestra.

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Testimonials

“Mr. Savage as an excellent teacher — motivating and caring, with any critique delivered accurately and never harshly… Mr. Savage really fostered my son’s love for clarinet.”

Notable Performances

  • Arranged for Wynonna Judd’s performance at the 2023 CMT Music Awards

  • Arranged for SXSW Soundcheck Saturday with "Nøkken + The Grim" - 2017

  • The Auricle Chamber - 2017

    • Premiered: "And Thus" for piano trio, "Stranded on Enceladus", and "Overhead Freeway" for solo violin