Nat Seelen – Clarinetist, Composer, and Artistic Director

Nat Seelen is a Boston-based clarinetist, composer, and educator whose work explores the intersections of tradition, innovation, and community in klezmer music and beyond. A dynamic performer and creator, he is the founder and artistic director of the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music, a concert series that has presented over 180 artists and reached thousands of audience members with original, culturally rooted music since its inception in 2021.

As a performer, Seelen is a founding member of the internationally recognized Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band, winners of awards at the International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam, Brazil’s Bubbe Awards, and more. With Ezekiel’s Wheels and other ensembles, he has performed at major venues including the Kennedy Center, Tanglewood Music Center, and Jordan Hall, and internationally in China, Denmark, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain, and Canada.

Seelen is also the creator of New Klezmer Studios, an innovative remote learning initiative that has taught klezmer music to students on five continents, including musicians from top institutions like Juilliard, New England Conservatory, Berklee, and Oberlin. He is a teaching artist with Arts for Learning Massachusetts and has given workshops, masterclasses, and lectures at the Society for Ethnomusicology  Annual Meeting, University of Connecticut, Tufts University, and many more. In 2025, Seelen will join the faculty at New England Conservatory teaching klezmer music.

As a composer, Seelen’s recent works include 56 New Klezmer Tunes for Dancing (2023), Gathering Sparks (2022), and Di Khassene (2021), a multimedia song cycle created during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a recipient of grants and fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, CJP Arts & Culture Fund, NEFA, and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.

Seelen began his musical training at the New England Conservatory. He holds an AB with honors in Music from Brown University and studied philosophy and music at King’s College London.

Watch 

“Kale Bazetsn / Der Heyser Bulgar / Fun der Heyser” live with Improbable Beasts - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-NSjfIlyZw

“December Suite” live with Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Trio - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td3bEI6ZjmA

Listen 

“Suite 1973” from Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band’s “The Thread | Di Fodem” - https://ewklezmer.bandcamp.com/track/suite-1973