Steven Dennis Bodner

Former Faculty

Director, Williams Symphonic Winds and Opus Zero Band

Steven Dennis Bodner (1975-2011) was Music Director of the Symphonic Winds and Opus Zero Band at Williams College, where he also taught classical saxophone, coached chamber music, and taught classes in music fundamentals and aural skills acquisition. He earned a B.A. in philosophy and a B.M. in saxophone performance from Miami (OH) University in 1997, and a M.M. in wind ensemble conducting with academic honors and distinction in performance from New England Conservatory in 1999. At the time of his passing, he was a Ph.D. candidate in Music Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he conducted the Youth Wind Ensemble for four years and was Interim Director of Bands, 2002-2003. He had taught at the Hartwick College (2002) and South Shore Conservatory (2003) Summer Music Festivals, as well as in the New England Conservatory Preparatory School (1999-2004); in demand as a guest conductor and clinician, Steven guest conducted ensembles in Massachusetts, Vermont, Ohio, New York, and Virginia, and he adjudicated the Maine High School Band and Vermont Music Educators Association Festivals. An advocate for the creation and performance of new music, he commissioned and premiered numerous works both for wind ensemble and for saxophone. His interpretations received praise from composers such as Louis Andriessen, Michel van der Aa, Andres Carrizo, Shih-Hui Chen, Stephen Dankner, John Frantzen, Nancy Galbraith, Kyle Gann, Michael Gandolfi, Michael Gordon, Judd Greenstein, David Maslanka, Andrea Mazzariello, Barton McLean, Michael Weinstein, and Pulitzer Prize winner Karel Husa. His primary conducting teachers included Frank Battisti, Malcolm W. Rowell, Jr., Gary Speck, and Gunther Schuller.

Also active as a saxophonist, Steven frequently performed with I/O New Music, which he co-directed with Matthew Gold. He also performed with the Williams Chamber Players, the Berkshire Symphony, the microtonal ensemble NotaRiotous and at the Manchester Music Festival. He recorded works by David Kechley and Curtis Hugues, released on CD in 2011. His primary saxophone teachers were Michèle Gingras and Kenneth Radnofsky.