Composer and author Steven Wesley Jackson has written solo, chamber, choral, and symphonic music. His compositions, published by Mount Auburn Press, have been performed by Juventas New Music Ensemble, Mount Auburn Arts Ensemble, New Arts Sinfonia, and Summer Winds Quintet, among others. His Octet and his Serenade for Orchestra were national finalists for the 2025 American Prize. Before turning to composition full-time, he was a classical clarinetist performing for four decades internationally and in many of New England’s leading ensembles, including three decades with Boston Lyric Opera. His two-volume music theory book for young readers, How Music Works, has been well-received internationally and adopted by American primary school systems. Steven Wesley Jackson is also the author of two books of poetry, A Larger World Made for Gentleness (2021), and Light (2023), published by Mount Auburn Press. He lives in Watertown Massachusetts.