Stanley Drucker

Who is Stanley Drucker?

Stanley Drucker is an American clarinetist. 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. Drucker entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15, but left Curtis after one year, recruited to 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.

In 1948, Drucker won a post in the New York Philharmonic 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 and William Bolcom, 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 and a live recording of the 1977 premiere performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein.