Stephen Ahearn
Stephen Ahearn has served as the Courtney and Drew Nall Second Clarinet with the Dallas Symphony since 2012. From 2021 to 2025 he served as the Interim Associate Principal Clarinet and Eâ™ Clarinet. Ahearn is Adjunct Associate Professor of Clarinet at SMU. He is also the Founder, Artistic Director and President of Herd Here, a chamber music series dedicated to bringing people together through free, inclusive chamber music experiences at the Trinity River Audubon Center.
Prior to moving to Dallas, Ahearn served as the acting second and Eâ™ clarinetist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, bass clarinetist with the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, Principal Clarinetist of the Sarasota Opera Orchestra and Adjunct Professor of Clarinet at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Ahearn has also appeared as a guest of the St. Louis Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Sun Valley Music Festival and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. He appears frequently as a guest of Voices of Change, Chatter and Santa Fe Pro Musica.
Ahearn holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Music from the University of Richmond and a Master of Music in Clarinet Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His teachers include Todd Levy, Ricardo Morales, David Weber and David Niethamer.
