Clarinetist

Jefferson Sheng graduated from Columbia and Juilliard as part of the Barnard-Columbia-Juilliard exchange program. Performing extensively as a chamber and orchestral musician, Jefferson attended summer music festivals, including but not limited to the Taipei Music Academy & Festival and Domaine Forget et Charlevoix under the tutelage of John Bruce Yeh, Wenzel Fuchs, Yehuda Gilad, and Charles Neidich. At Juilliard, Jefferson is an avid Chamber collaborator, having worked with Emanuel Ax, Jerome Lowenthal, and Alan Kay. Jefferson also took part in Juilliard’s 2023 ChamberFest, where he performed the Penderecki Sextet alongside Juilliard peers and hornist Eric Reed at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.

In 2019, Jefferson was part of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America’s tour to Europe. Led by Sir Antonio Pappano and collaborating with mezzo-sopranos Joyce DiDonato, Isabel Leonard, and Magdelena Kožená, Jefferson performed with the orchestra at festivals and venues, including but not limited to the BBC Proms, Young Euro Classic, Edinburgh International Festival, Royal Concertgebouw, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Tanglewood, and Carnegie Hall. At Columbia, he pursued an English and comparative literature degree while studying with clarinetist Jon Manasse at the Juilliard School.