Stanley Drucker
Encyclopedia
Stanley Drucker is an American clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

ist. Of Ukrainian ancestry, he began clarinet studies at age ten with Leon Russianoff, and remained his student for five years. He attended the High School of Music & Art (now the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, at Lincoln Square). Drucker entered the Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...

 at age 15, but left Curtis after one year, recruited to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is a major American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana.Annually, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra performs 200 concerts for over 350,000 people. It is the largest performing arts organization in Indiana. The ISO is currently one of only 18 American...

. After a year, he worked with the Busch Little Symphony, organized by Adolf Busch
Adolf Busch
Adolf Georg Wilhelm Busch was a German-born violinist and composer.Busch was born in Siegen in Westphalia. He studied at the Cologne Conservatory with Willy Hess and Bram Eldering...

. He then became principal clarinetist of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra located in Buffalo, New York. Its primary performing venue is Kleinhans Music Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Its regular concert season features gala concerts, classics programming of core repertoire, Pops...

.

In 1948, Drucker won a post in the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...

 clarinet section. In 1960, he became the orchestra's principal clarinetist, where he remained for the duration of his career. His time with the New York Philharmonic has included nearly 150 solo appearances with the orchestra. He gave the first performances of clarinet concerti by John Corigliano
John Corigliano
John Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...

 and William Bolcom
William Bolcom
William Elden Bolcom is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, two Grammy Awards, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan from 1973–2008...

, both of these commissions for the New York Philharmonic. Drucker has appeared on two recordings of the Corigliano concerto, a studio recording conducted by Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...

 and a live recording of the 1977 premiere performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

.

In January 2008, the New York Philharmonic announced Drucker's retirement from the orchestra at the close of the 2008–2009 season, for a total of 61 years with the orchestra and 49 years as its principal clarinet. His final solo appearance with the orchestra was in June 2009, in performances of the clarinet concerto of Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...

. Drucker is the only clarinetist to have performed as the soloist in the Copland clarinet concerto in performances with the New York Philharmonic besides its original performer, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...

.

Drucker is highly regarded for his musicianship and his longevity of service with the New York Philharmonic, totaling 10,200 concerts, such as expressed by Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist. He is currently the principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in Gothenburg, Sweden, and music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles, California...

 in November 2007:

"He's a legend. The history of the orchestra is in him."


On June 4, 2009, Drucker was awarded a Guinness World Record for longest career as a clarinetist after that performance of Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto. Guinness logs his career at "62 years, 7 months and 1 day as of June 4, 2009".

In 2010, Stanley Drucker received an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

.

Drucker is married to Naomi Drucker, former principal clarinetist of the North Carolina Symphony
North Carolina Symphony
The North Carolina Symphony is an American orchestra based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with sixty-nine full time musicians. The orchestra performs in Meymandi Concert Hall and performs occasionally with the Carolina Ballet and the The Opera Company of North Carolina. In 2007, the organization...

 and current adjunct assistant professor of music at Hofstra University
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private, nonsectarian institution of higher learning located in the Village of Hempstead, New York, United States, about east of New York City: less than an hour away by train or car...

. They have two children, Leon, who is the double bassist for The Stray Cats under the stage name of "Lee Rocker
Lee Rocker
Lee Rocker is an American rockabilly double bass player. He is the son of the classical clarinetists Stanley Drucker and Naomi Drucker. His sister Roseanne is a country music singer-songwriter...

", and Rosanne, an alternative-country singer–songwriter. Drucker has the distinction of being one of the few living orchestral musicians whose biography appears in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

External links

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