Bruce Stark is an award-winning American composer for the concert stage, and as composer/pianist he has also released several solo piano albums. His music embraces influences of jazz, classical and contemporary masters.
I strive for beauty, lyricism, subtle shades of harmony and rhythmic layers, sometimes meditative, sometimes vibrantly energetic. I try to create music that has an organic profile, combining my diverse influences into a singular creative voice—the one that inspires and informs me, the one I hope inspires listeners.
BIO
Bruce Stark’s music reflects the varied elements of his musical upbringing. He grew up in Lakeside, California where he began with drums and percussion, migrated to jazz piano, and while in college dropped out of the physics program and began formal studies in classical music, going on to complete a masters degree in composition at the Juilliard School. After graduation he moved to Tokyo where he resided for over 20 years making a living as arranger and jazz pianist, all the while producing a collection of works that reveal a compelling musical voice. In 2013 he returned to the U.S. and joined the music faculty of DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Washington.
From solo piano to chamber and orchestral works, Stark’s music has been performed on the concert stages of four continents and recorded on numerous CDs. His Sonata for Piano was awarded Honorable Mention by the Music Teachers National Association in the Distinguished Composer of the Year competition, and he was winner of the South Texas Brass Symposium Competition for Adagio and Allegro for horn, trombone and piano. Other awards include First Prize in the Composers Guild Contest, Second Prize in the Barlow International Competition, and ASCAP composer awards.
His compositions have been featured in the National Flute Association Convention, American Piano Festival, International Trombone Festival, Canberra International Chamber Music Festival and MasterWorks Festival. Performances have included the Baton Rouge and Lansing symphonies, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Jakarta Symphony, Northwest Symphony Orchestra, Beaverton Symphony, Portland Youth Philharmonic, Rapides Symphony, numerous pianists and other musicians including trombonists Megumi Kanda and Don Lucas who have commissioned and championed multiple new works.
NEWS
News Highlights 2024, 2025
A written interview with Bruce Stark is now featured on the Meet the Artist website. The interview explores Stark’s influences, roots, creative process, advice for young composers, and more. Here is the link to the interview.
On January 5, 2024 the Portland Youth Philharmonic strings under David Hattner gave the world premiere of Stark’s Serenade for Strings at Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton, Oregon.
On March 16, 2024, Antera 2 Radio in Lisbon, Portugal broadcasted a special feature of Bruce Stark’s album Tapestries on Jorge Carnaxide’s show, combining music with comments by the composer.
On March 28, 2024 members of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra performed 2 movements from Stark’s Trio Suite at the Robin Theatre in Lansing, Michigan, featuring Michael Bechtel, violin, Guy Yehuda, clarinet, and Patrick Johnson, piano.
On April 12, 2024 pianist Shu Li gave the world premiere of Colors of Peace, a large work for solo piano by Bruce Stark. Dr. Li commissioned the piece with support from Augustana University. The recital was held in Hamre Hall at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
On June 7, 2024, pianist Nariaki Sugiura gave the world premiere of several selections from If Stars Could Speak, a collection of pieces for left hand piano that he commissioned from Bruce Stark with support from University of North Dakota, at Grace Village Chapel in Indiana.
On June 8, 2024, pianist Nariaki Sugiura performed two pieces from the collection If Stars Could Speak at Warsaw Evangelical Church in Indiana.
On July 27, 2024 Trombonist Don Lucas and pianist Haram Kim led a performance of Adagio and Allegro (in its original version entitled Suite for Two Tenor Trombones and Piano) for 2 trombones and piano in Macao, China at Colegio de Santa Rosa de Lima.
August 2, 2024: Stark’s Suite for Horn, Trombone and Piano was performed in Seoul, Korea at Seocho Art Center, in a version for 2 horns and piano
On September 9, 2024, Dr. Sam Gowen (horn), Dr. Brad Snyder (trombone) and Dr. Xuan Kuang (piano) performed Stark’s Suite for Horn, Trombone and Piano at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center of South Dakota University in their faculty recital.
On September 22, 2024, Eastern Standard, a trio of horn, tuba and piano, performed Stark’s Fanfare for Horn, Tuba and Piano (commissioned by the trio) at Longwood University in Virginia.
On September 28, 2024 pianist Nariaki Sugiura performed selections from If Stars Could Speak, for left hand piano, at Warsaw Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Warsaw, Indiana.
In October of 2024, Centaur Records released a CD by cellist Simona Barbu and pianist Nariaki Sugiura featuring the premiere recording of Bruce Stark’s Suite for Cello and Piano, a work the duo commissioned, as well as Promise.
October 25, 2024, cellist Simona Barbu and pianist Nariaki Sugiura performed Suite for Cello and Piano at University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada
November 8, 2024 Bruce Stark gave a solo piano recital at Skyline Retirement Center in Seattle, including selections from To A Child’s Heart and arrangements and improvisations on jazz standards and other repertory.
November 16, 2024, Japanese flutist Atsuhiro Usami released Cinema, a CD including Bruce Stark’s arrangement of Over the Rainbow for flute and piano
On January 10, 2025 the Portland Youth Philharmonic under David Hattner with piano soloist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner will give the world premiere of Mischief Dance for piano and string orchestra (commissioned for the occasion)
On January 12, 2025 the Portland Youth Philharmonic under David Hattner with piano soloist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner will include Stark’s Mischief Dance in their program at Willamette University at Hudson Hall.
REVIEWS
Stark is an artist of the highest caliber
— Jim Aiken, Keyboard Magazine
strikes a rare balance between musical literacy and pure emotion
— Linda Kohanov, CD Review
(Tapestries piano album) Stark’s ambition is to “strive for beauty, lyricism, subtle shades of harmony and rhythmic layers,” and he certainly succeeds…this is music that deepens on repeated listenings; its very approachability masks a multitude of subtleties.
— Colin Clarke, Fanfare
a confident, fresh-voiced composer
— Daron Hagen, EAR Magazine
(Serenade for Strings) Stark’s intent was to create a work that “sings and dances with beauty, lyricism, and vibrant energy,” and the results show that the goal was assuredly met.
— Textura
(Adagio and Allegro) …Stark shows his mastery of writing beautiful lyrical lines for the brass, with witty and pianistic interjections…The innate lyricism with which Stark writes, along with his clear presentation of characters in each movement makes this delightful piece a fun and audience-pleasing program staple.
— Heidi Lucas, The Horn Call
Bruce Stark’s Americana Wind Quintet (2009) is the takeaway discovery on this CD. A jewel, Stark’s quintet is gorgeous, engaging, complexly structured, and intellectually rewarding. Its four movements are as expansive as the American spirit, with lots of nice ensemble writing, delicious coloring, and motivic ideas cleverly linked by threads of repetition and special effect.
— Daniel Kepl, Performance Arts Review
. . . there is something about it that is unmistakably “American” in sound and spirit that’s hard to describe. Above all, I find it to be an exquisitely beautiful piece and one that has grown on me with repeated hearings and moved me deeply. Listen, for example, to the second movement, “Hymn to the Dawn.” What extraordinarily beautiful music this is . . .
- Jerry Dubins, Fanfare
This is a magnificent and engaging addition to the woodwind quintet literature.
- Ronald E. Grames, Fanfare
The four movements of the American composer Bruce Stark's Americana Wind Quintet abound in poetic and dramatic flights spiced with savoury flavours and rhythmic twists.
— Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone
Lisa Moore closed her part of the program with Bruce Stark's “Variations on Ode To Joy“(1997), a fantasy on the theme from the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, couched in jazzy rhythms, rumbling bass figures and a healthy measure of overt virtuosity. It was as if Liszt, while musing on the Beethoven work, were suddenly possessed by the spirit of Art Tatum.
— Allan Kozinn, New York Times
Tuesday's program opened with Bruce Stark's Fugue, a cool, ultra-precise composition whose extended, winding motifs, exchanged from player to player, created music that seemed to move in circular crosscurrents through the Bessie Schonberg Theater.
— Stephen Holden, The New York Times
A grand finale was provided by Bruce Stark, composer of “Variations on Ode To Joy”—and it was in this piece that surprising bits of the joyous melody would emerge amidst the frenetic passages of jazz, syncopation, and all kinds of different rhythms.
— Wendy Brazil, ArtSoundFM 92.7 Radio, Australia
Bruce Stark's music was performed to wonderful effect again in tonight's program. His 5 short pieces further explored how jazz stylings and American folk music influences can be used without merely evoking the achievements of the '50's. The explosive 5th prelude was fascinating in how it simultaneously and without feelings of pastiche evoked both Bartok and Gershwin.
Stark's work has been featured in every concert of the series and for good reason. He has an unusually rare gift in creating a recognizable voice, combining compelling content with forms that make sense and are full of surprises.
— Jeff Harrington, Sequenza21
TESTIMONIALS
The first time I heard the music of Bruce Stark, I thought, “What fantastic music!”. Now after repeated performances of his music, my admiration and appreciation for his artistry just continues to grow deeper and deeper.
- Don Lucas, trombonist, teacher
Symphonic Dances is unlike any other work I have known. It is masterful and inspired music. The language is fresh, original, and instantly engaging to the audience . . . Mr. Stark has a unique voice.
- Timothy Muffitt, conductor
Bruce Stark is unquestionably one of the finest composers of his generation.
- Jeffrey Jacob, pianist
Fresh, refined, music that holds both the audience and the musicians captive...I love Bruce's pieces!
- Kaori Fujii, flutist
Rhythms that dance and spring from deep within your body, a myriad of colors and shades, tender, melodic passages…when I play Bruce's music, a world of images seems to rise from the piano, and my love and passion for the piano itself grows.
- Chika Nagisa, pianist
Bruce's works are innovative and exciting additions to the repertoire. They open up new doors for the performer and never fail to delight all who play or hear it!
- Megumi Kanda, trombone
It is challenging to describe the range of Bruce's music in words, but here are a few: powerful and dynamic, yet tender and serene; complex yet always tuneful and accessible; funky and jazzy yet classically rigorous; challenging yet eminently pianistic.
- Seann Alderking, pianist
When I commissioned Bruce Stark to write a piece celebrating the turn of the millennium, I was certain of only one thing: that his piece would be full of excitement! What I could not have foreseen was the daring structure of the piece, the extraordinary finesse of his orchestration, and the muscular main theme...
- David Charles Abell, conductor