L.A. Philharmonic celebrates Steven Stucky's 50th

Steven Stucky conducts a rehearsal of Ensemble X in Sage Hall. Robert Barker/University Photography

By Franklin Crawford

Steven Stucky isn't the kind of person who would throw a 50th birthday bash for himself. So the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra threw one for him. Two, in fact. On Oct. 29, the orchestra premiered Stucky's "American Muse," a work commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic's board president, Cornell alumnus Robert Attiyeh '56 and his wife, Linda, and performed by baritone Sanford Sylvan to great acclaim. A setting of four American poems, the piece includes the "Delaware Water Gap" by A.R. Ammons, celebrated poet and Cornell professor emeritus.

Then on Monday, Nov. 8, Stucky mounted the podium to conduct two of his own works for the Green Umbrella Series, the Los Angeles Philharmonic's new music program. In keeping with his reputation as champion of new works, Stucky premiered a piece by Joseph Phibbs, Cornell doctoral candidate in music, and paid homage to his most admired mentors, Jacob Druckman and Witold Lutoslawski, showcasing works by both.

In a Nov. 1 review of American Muse, Mark Swed, music critic for the Los Angeles Times, summed up the high regard for the modest Cornell professor of music: "[Stucky] has made himself not just indispensable to Los Angeles' music community but also, through his mild manner, self-deprecating sense of humor and devotion to a wide range of music, very well liked."

Stucky has served on the Cornell music faculty since 1980, chairing the music department from 1992 to 1997. His 50th birthday actually fell on Sunday, Nov. 7. Midlife finds the composer, conductor, writer and lecturer at the summit of his creative powers. In addition to "American Muse," Stucky's 1999-2000 season includes a world premiere of the string quartet "Nell'ombra, nella luce," commissioned by the Institute of American Music at the Eastman School of Music. Among his current projects is a concerto for Scottish percussion virtuoso Evelyn Glennie and a recorder concerto for Michala Petri.

Considered by many critics to be one of the leading American composers of his generation, Stucky was chosen by André Previn as composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1988. When that four-year appointment passed, Stucky had so won the hearts of his Los Angeles Philharmonic colleagues, that music director Esa-Pekka Salonen appointed him as the group's new music adviser.

For the past 12 years, Stucky has traveled extensively between Ithaca and Los Angeles. Although sunny Southern California may sound like a welcome getaway for any Ithacan, Stucky's trips to Tinsel Town are all business. His current visit to Los Angeles is typical. He's helping to commission new concertos for every principal player in the orchestra, and not only conducting new music but community outreach as well. Stucky has been visiting area high schools and colleges and meeting with aspiring student composers and performers.

"I try to get out into the neighborhoods on every trip if I can because the L.A. Philharmonic can appear as a big and forbidding organization," he said. "It's important to get out into the schools and neighborhoods and help young composers feel they aren't entirely alone with their weird habit."

Stucky said Los Angeles probably has "more composers per capita than any other place" in the world. Many of them like to be considered as "serious composers," he said, but the fact is, many are tunesmiths cranking out TV jingles. But the Los Angeles Philharmonic attracts the most talented composers in the world.

The orchestra, with the help of people like Stucky, has a history of advocating new music.

"They have a long tradition of stretching the musical repertoire and a reputation for having one of the most enlightened attitudes toward new music of any orchestra in the country," Stucky said. "That's what keeps me coming back."

Despite his proximity to Hollywood, Stucky has never written for the movies. But, he said, "some of the most intelligent and skillful composers in the business come to hear our concerts," and that is gratifying.

Stucky's birthday celebration this week is but one peak in a career with many high points. A well-known expert on the music of Lutoslawski, Stucky won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Prize for his 1981 book, Lutoslawski and his Music. Among his other honors are a Guggenheim Fellowship (1986) and a Bogliasco Fellowship (1997).

He has written commissioned works for the Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Baltimore symphonies, for the Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras, for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and for Chanticleer, the Boston Musica Viva, the Camerata Bern and the Koussevitzky Foundation. The Carnegie Hall Corp. commissioned his orchestral work "Angelus" to open its 1990 centennial season celebration.