Stanley Drucker

Quality 0.50 · 0 views · Updated 2 months ago

American musician (1929–2022)

title: "Stanley Drucker" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1929-births", "2022-deaths", "20th-century-american-clarinetists", "21st-century-american-clarinetists", "american-classical-clarinetists", "american-people-of-russian-descent", "classical-musicians-from-new-york-(state)", "curtis-institute-of-music-people", "the-high-school-of-music-&-art-alumni", "jewish-american-classical-musicians", "musicians-from-brooklyn", "21st-century-american-male-musicians", "20th-century-american-male-musicians", "20th-century-american-jews", "21st-century-american-jews", "players-of-the-new-york-philharmonic", "players-of-the-buffalo-philharmonic-orchestra"] description: "American musician (1929–2022)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Drucker" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American musician (1929–2022) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist "]

FieldValue
nameStanley Drucker
backgroundnon_vocal_instrumentalist
birth_date
birth_placeBrooklyn, New York, U.S.
death_date
death_placeVista, California, U.S.
instrumentClarinet
past_member_of{{Plain list
years_active1948–2009
::

| name = Stanley Drucker | image = | caption = | image_size = | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Vista, California, U.S. | origin = | instrument = Clarinet | past_member_of = {{Plain list|

Stanley Drucker (February 4, 1929 – December 19, 2022) was an American clarinetist. For nearly five decades, he was principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic. According to Guinness World Records, he achieved the longest career as a clarinetist. Drucker premiered the clarinet concerto by John Corigliano.

Life

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 4, 1929, of Russian-Jewish ancestry, Drucker 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). Although Drucker entered the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 15, he left after one year when he was recruited by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. After a year, he worked with the Busch Little Symphony, organized by Adolf Busch. He then became principal clarinetist of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, beginning in the autumn of 1947.

In 1948, Drucker won a post in the New York Philharmonic clarinet section playing third and E-flat clarinet. In 1960, he became the orchestra's principal clarinetist, | title= Drucker, Stanley | last= Weston | first= Pamela | encyclopedia= New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians | volume= 5 | page= 639 | edition= 1980 | publisher= Macmillan Publishers Limited

In 1981, he performed with the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series.

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 held in June 2009, in performances of the clarinet concerto of Aaron Copland.

Legacy

Drucker was 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 in November 2007: "He's a legend. The history of the orchestra is in him." In 2009, Lorin Maazel said: "He stands alone in the world of clarinetists. His contribution to the orchestra and its fame is immeasurable."

Awards

Drucker was nominated for two Grammy Awards (1981, 1991).

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

He was named honorary member of the New York Philharmonic, as the first orchestra musician honored.

In 2010, Drucker received an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Florida.

Drucker appears in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

Personal life

Drucker was married to Naomi Drucker, a former principal clarinetist of the North Carolina Symphony, music professor at Hofstra University, and co-founder and co-director of the American Chamber Ensemble. They have two children, Leon, who is the double bassist for The Stray Cats under the stage name of "Lee Rocker", and Rosanne, an alternative-country singer–songwriter.

Drucker died in Vista, California, on December 19, 2022, at age 93.

Discography

  • Stanley Drucker Heritage Collection: Live In Concert (1–5) (2017) – Louis Spohr, Max Bruch, Max Lifchitz, Johannes Brahms, Daniel Gregory Mason, Francis Poulenc, Bernhard Crusell, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Paul Hindemith, Alfred Prinz, Carl Maria von Weber, Leonard Bernstein, Gordon Jacob, Jacob Weinberg – Produced by Jerome Bunke
  • Stanley Drucker Heritage Collection: From The Vaults (6–7) (2019) – Carl Nielsen, Milton Babbitt, Valley Weigl, Mario Davidovsky, Arthur Honegger, Béla Bartók, Claude Debussy, Louis Spohr, Gordon Jacob, Arthur Bliss, John Corigliano
  • Stanley Drucker Heritage Collection: Hidden Gems (8–9) (2022) – Michael Whalen, Charles Schwartz, Johannes Brahms, John Corigliano, Meyer Kupferman, Claude Debussy, Alban Berg, Nicolas Roussakis, Scott McAllister
  • Stanley Drucker Heritage Collection: Coda (10–14) (2024) – Franz Krommer, Alexander Krein, Leonard Bernstein, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Lászlo Weiner, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Charles Ives, Edward Thomas, Elie Sigmeister, Paul Hindemith, Sergei Prokofiev, Samuel Barber, Felix Mendelssohn, Georg Phillipp Telemann,  Louis Spohr, Johannes Brahms, Meyer Kupferman, Francis Poulenc, Claude Debussy, Luciano Berio

Recordings

Citations

General and cited references

References

  1. Shapiro, Amy Beth. (May 2015). "Sixty Years at the New York Philharmonic Through the Eyes of Clarinetist Stanley Drucker: An Oral History of the Philharmonic Community, 1948–2008". Stony Brook University.
  2. (June 4, 2009). "Ending a 60-Year Gig at the N.Y. Philharmonic". The New York Times.
  3. Geldrich, Peter M. (November 4, 2020). "A Legacy Preserved: A Comparison of the Careers and Recordings of Stanley Drucker and Karl Leister".
  4. (December 21, 2022). "Longest career as a clarinetist".
  5. Boris, Theodolinda C. "Steinberg Returns, Confident He Has Superior Orchestra." Buffalo Evening News, 10 November 1947, 15.
  6. Letter, Bruno Zirato to Stanley Drucker, 16 February 1948. New York Philharmonic Digital Archives, Orchestra Correspondence, Jan 10, 1946 – Nov 7, 1949 (ID: 011–14–02)
  7. (May 28, 1998). "Orchestra Celebrates Clarinetist's 50 Years". The New York Times.
  8. (December 14, 1997). "Feasting on Six Decades of the Philharmonic's Past". The New York Times.
  9. "Naumburg Orchestral Concerts".
  10. (January 11, 2008). "A Season for Big Works (and Two Grand Finales) at the Philharmonic". The New York Times.
  11. (June 5, 2009). "An Evening of Accolades for a Clarinetist". The New York Times.
  12. (November 30, 2007). "The Kid's Got Energy. Now Watch Him Conduct.". The New York Times.
  13. (September 30, 2022). "Stanley Drucker".
  14. (June 4, 2009). "NY clarinetist sets standard for Guinness record". twincities.com, [[St. Paul Pioneer Press.
  15. (June 15, 2022). "What's New: Latest News and Stories About The New York Philharmonic".
  16. Canarina, J.. (2010). "The New York Philharmonic: From Bernstein to Maazel". Amadeus Press.
  17. "Honorary Degrees {{!}} Honors & Awards {{!}} College of the Arts". College of the Arts, University of Florida.
  18. (Fall 2010). "College News". College of Fine Arts, University of Florida.
  19. (November 1, 1981). "The Clarinet Plays A Harmonious Role". The New York Times.
  20. (March 26, 2000). "Clarinetists Are a Duo on Stage and in Life". The New York Times.
  21. Paltrowitz, Darren. (June 19, 2019). "The Stray Cats' Lee Rocker on His Music Career, leaving New York".
  22. (December 20, 2022). "Stanley Drucker, Ageless Clarinetist of the N.Y. Philharmonic, Dies at 93". The New York Times.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1929-births2022-deaths20th-century-american-clarinetists21st-century-american-clarinetistsamerican-classical-clarinetistsamerican-people-of-russian-descentclassical-musicians-from-new-york-(state)curtis-institute-of-music-peoplethe-high-school-of-music-&-art-alumnijewish-american-classical-musiciansmusicians-from-brooklyn21st-century-american-male-musicians20th-century-american-male-musicians20th-century-american-jews21st-century-american-jewsplayers-of-the-new-york-philharmonicplayers-of-the-buffalo-philharmonic-orchestra