Stanley Drucker Death – Legendary Principal Clarinet of the New York Philharmonic Stanley Drucker has sadly passed away,. He died on Monday 19th December 2022. He was pronounced dead in Vista, California at the age of 93. He was was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Ukrainian Jewish descent on February 4, 1929. The details surrounding the exact cause of his death has not been made public at the time this report was made.
Stanley Drucker Education
He received his formal education at the High School of Music and Art (now the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, at Lincoln Square). Drucker began his musical education at the age of 15, when he enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music. However, he left the institute after only one year to join the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. After a year had passed, he began working with the Busch Little Symphony, which was directed by Adolf Busch.
Following that, he was promoted to the position of principal clarinetist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Drucker joined the New York Philharmonic as a clarinetist in 1948. For the rest of his career, he held the position of principal clarinetist with the orchestra he joined in 1960. He has made approximately 150 solo appearances with the New York Philharmonic.
Stanley Drucker Career
The New York Philharmonic commissioned clarinet concertos from John Corigliano and William Bolcom, and he performed their world premiere performances. There are two recordings of the Corigliano Clarinet Concerto that feature Drucker; one is a studio version conducted by Zubin Mehta, while the other is a live recording of the 1977 premiere performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein. After 61 years with the New York Philharmonic and 49 as its lead clarinet, the orchestra announced in January 2008 that Drucker would retire at the end of the 2008-2009 season.
In June of 2009, he made his final engagement as a soloist with the orchestra, playing Aaron Copland’s clarinet concerto. Following his performance of Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto with the orchestra on Thursday, June 4, 2009, Drucker was presented with a Guinness World Record for the longest career as a clarinetist. As of June 4, 2009, Guinness recorded his 62 years, 7 months, and 1 day as a member of the Philharmonic.
Stanley Drucker’s obituary will be released by the family
News from SNBC13.com