Stefan Cwik

(He/Him)
Stefan Cwik headshot

Contact

Office 421

Departments

Music Theory and Musicianship

Courses Taught

Orchestration

Piano Pedagogy

Composing for Guitar

Tonal Counterpoint

Undergraduate Musicianship

Undergraduate Music Theory

Graduate Music Theory Review

Education

MM, The Juilliard School

BM, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Awards and Distinctions

BMI Student Composer Awards, 2013

Juilliard Orchestral Composition, 2012, 2013

Bassoon Chamber Music Composition Competition, 2010

Q&A

What is your hometown?

Chicago, IL

What is your favorite recording?

Leonidas Kavakos and Peter Nagy performing Igor Stravinsky's Duo Concertante for violin and piano.

What are you passionate about outside of music?

Snowboarding and surfing.

Who were your major teachers?

John Corigliano, David Conte, and Dusan Bogdanovic.

What is a favorite quote that you repeatedly tell students?

"Music is architecture unfolding in the dimension of time."

What was a turning point in your career?

Moving to San Francisco.

If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?

Most likely an engineer or physicist.

If you could play only three composers for the rest of your life, who would they be?

Igor Stravinsky, Benjamin Britten, and Maurice Ravel.

From a music history perspective, what year and city are most important to you?

Paris, France in 1913.

What are your most important collaborations?

Writing an English horn concerto for Russ deLuna of the San Francisco Symphony to be performed with Symphony Parnassus; Writing a piece for four-hand piano duet for the ZOFO Duet; Writing a piece for Jeffrey Milarsky and the Juilliard Orchestra.

What recordings can we hear you on?

Bassoon and Friends: Chamber Music for Bassoon, MSR Classics

What is your unrealized project?

A ballet.