About Us
Bill King
BILL KING, owner, has been a professional clarinetist for over 40 years. He currently holds the tenured 2nd/bass clarinet chair in the Detroit Opera Orchestra, based in the beautifully restored Detroit Opera House; he won the chair in 2005. He has also held tenured chairs in the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Orchestra (Principal), the Illinois Symphony (2nd), and Sinfonia da Camera (2nd). He has been first-call substitute with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, including regional touring, the Colorado Symphony, and the Phoenix Symphony, and has subbed with the Cincinnati Symphony. He is the Coordinator of Woodwind Chamber Music at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, and each summer performs at the Michigan City (IN) Chamber Music Festival.
Jonathan Gunn
Jonathan Gunn is a versatile artist with a varied career as educator, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. Currently, Mr. Gunn serves as the Assistant Professor of Clarinet at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas, Austin.
Appointed by Maestro Paavo Järvi to the position of Associate Principal and Eb Clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2004, Mr. Gunn then served as Principal Clarinet from 2011 to 2016 before joining the faculty at the Butler School of Music. Prior to joining the Cincinnati Symphony, he was the Principal Clarinetist of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and has performed as Guest Principal Clarinet with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on multiple occasions as well as playing with the New York Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh and Colorado Symphony Orchestras.
Mr. Gunn has participated in numerous music festivals including Bard, Tanglewood, Aspen, St. Bart's, Telluride Jazz Celebration, and Ashlawn-Highland Opera Company and is the Principal Clarinetist of the Sunflower Music Festival. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the Wheeling Symphony and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and in August 2016, Mr. Gunn was featured at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest performing the Copland Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician Jonathan is active around the United States, has performed as a member of Concert:Nova, and has played regularly on the Linton Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati.
Committed to the education of the next generation of clarinetists, Mr. Gunn gives masterclasses and recitals around the country, and has served on the faculties of the Buffet-Crampon Summer Academy, the Aria International Summer Academy and the National Youth Orchestra of the USA. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Texas, he served on the faculties of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Goshen College, Andrews University and Seton Hill University.
Born in Sheffield, England, Mr. Gunn started his musical career playing violin and piano and began studying the clarinet after moving to the United States at age eleven. He received a Bachelor of Music from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and a Master of Music from the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University. Jonathan is married to Jennifer Gunn, who plays piccolo and flute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Gunn is a D’Addario Artist and Musician Advisor, a Buffet Group USA Performing Artist and plays exclusively on Buffet-Crampon clarinets.
Ryan King
Ryan King holds a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Daniel Gilbert. He has studied with many notable musicians, including Joaquin Valdepenas and Bill Jackson at the Aspen Summer Music Festival, Steve Cohen at the Brevard Music Festival, and the Imani Winds at their Chamber Music Festival in New York City. Ryan has performed and recorded with many notable ensembles, such as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the River Raisin Ragtime Revue, the Dearborn Symphony, and the Cut-Time Players.
In addition to his classical performance, Ryan has a strong presence in the Michigan rock scene. As a founding member of Ypsilanti-based progressive jam band Stormy Chromer, Ryan has spent years touring the midwest's rock clubs and bars. Though his role is primarily that of bassist and songwriter, every now and again the clarinet will make a guest appearance!