Reported today via our partner site Slipped Disc, well-known American composer Steven Stucky has died on Sunday of brain cancer. He died peacefully in his sleep at his family home in Ithaca, NY.
Stucky was a major voice of contemporary music and touched many around the world. His Second Concerto for Orchestra won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Music and established him as a notable voice for modernist-inspired orchestral works.
A prolific composer, he was also known for his chamber works, song settings, choral music and most recently, an opera titled, “The Classical Style: An Opera (Of Sorts)”, which premiered in 2014 at the 68th Ojai Music Festival.
Stucky’s career was closely aligned with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he served as a resident composer between 1988 and 2009 (the longest such affiliation in American orchestral history). He was well-respected by America’s top orchestras and was commissioned by Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and St. Paul.
He hosted the popular New York Philharmonic’s Hear & Now series between 2005 and 2009, which featured onstage commentary and conversations with living composers.
As a dedicated teacher, Stucky taught at Cornell University from 1980 to 2014 and served as Cornell’s Given Foundation Professor of Composition, Emeritus. Active as a visiting professor, he also taught at the Eastman School of Music, Temple University and the University of California, Berkeley. Most recently he had joined the faculty of the Juilliard School in 2014.
Stucky was known as an authority on the music of Polish composer Witold Lutosławski; in 2013, he curated centenary celebrations with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
He shared a particular kinship with Montreal-based cellist Elinor Frey, and even wrote a piece for her in 2006, titled “Dialoghi.”
“Steve was my best friend for a few years and was a very special person in my life,” Frey said. “He was fiercely loyal and loving to his friends and mentors; his sentiment towards them was often bubbling to the surface as he’d get teary-eyed talking about Witold Lutosławski or Karel Husa.”
Frey added, “His work with the LA Phil and Esa-Pekka Salonen had a huge influence on the growth and appreciation of contemporary music in LA, and of course in countless other cities. Steve loved art and poetry, wine and great restaurants, and was a towering intellect, often sending his friends photos of art he’d seen recently or sending quotes of poems he liked. It is truly remarkable how much he gave to others. He was constantly on a plane going to mentor, teach, participate in premieres and festivals, visit and support his family and friends. Steve came a few times in recent years to Toronto, often to work with young composers. His student, Norbert Palej, is currently on faculty at U of T. Steve’s music was ravishingly beautiful and of the highest quality. His loss will be deeply felt by the entire musical community.”
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