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Stephen Drury

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Stephen Drury is an American pianist, conductor and electronic musician. He was born in Spokane, Washington State, in 1955. His teachers included Margaret Ott, Patricia Zander and Claudio Arrau. In 1976 he graduated from Harvard, and then he studied for a year at the Juilliard School with William Masselos. Most of his career has been centred on Boston, where the Boston Globe called him the local authority on new music.

Music and breakthrough

In the 1980s he was music director of the American Repertory Theater. He directs the contemporary music ensemble Callithumpian Consort, teaches at the New England Conservatory and since 2018 has been professor of piano for contemporary classical music at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. He has played and recorded works by Stravinsky, Charles Ives, John Cage, Frederic Rzewski, Elliott Carter and John Zorn.

Influence

Most praised is his 1994 recording of The People United Will Never Be Defeated! by Rzewski, which critics regard as the definitive performance of that work. In 2008 he performed with Rzewski himself at Carnegie Hall. His recording of Carny by John Zorn is likewise considered definitive. For many listeners Drury is thus the pianist who makes the most difficult contemporary pieces accessible, including in his series of piano works by John Cage.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a section of The People United Will Never Be Defeated! in Drury's performance. Notice how a simple theme is varied again and again and how the pianist builds it up from soft to fierce.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists