Distinguished Research Professor
M.M., University of North Texas
Office: 815-753-8008
E-mail: steveduke@niu.edu
http://www.steveduke.net
Stephen Duke (b. 1954) is widely known for his work as an accomplished classical and jazz saxophonist and for performing new music and computer music. Duke’s versatility on the saxophone prompted Allan Kozinn of the New York Times to write, “Stephen Duke played the music with a gorgeous tone and moved easily between, say, the Coltranesque leaps and the supple fluidity of the Hodges pastiche.”
Featured in major classical, jazz and new music festivals and conferences throughout the United States and Europe, Duke’s solo performances include appearances at International Computer Music Conference, Synthesis Computer Music Festival, Arts Now Music Series, International Association for Jazz Education Annual Conference, Music Today Festival, Contemporary Music Festival, Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), World Saxophone Conference, World Music Institute Music Series, the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference, and Electronic Music Midwest.
Stephen Duke’s early training began at age 5 on organ. He began studying classical saxophone at age 11, jazz study at age 14, and flute at age 15. Stephen Duke received his a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Orchestral Performance-Saxophone at North Texas State University, now known as University of North Texas, where his principal saxophone teachers were James Riggs and Dennis Diamond. As an undergraduate student, he was awarded the Phi Kappa Lambda Outstanding Soloist Award, the highest award given for classical music performance. Duke also performed as lead alto in the renowned One O’clock Lab Band. In addition to his work on the saxophone he has studied extensively on the flute, clarinet and oboe with leading teachers, including Ralph Johnson and Clare Johnson (Flute), Lee Gibson (Clarinet), Gladys Elliot and Charles Veasey (Oboe). Duke studied jazz with Joe Daley and Joe Henderson.
His earlier work as a jazz saxophonist includes performances at Spoleto USA, the Hilton Head Jazz Festival, and the Elgart Jazz Festival. His has worked with notable jazz artists Joe Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Wess, Roland Hanna, Grady Tate, Ed Soph, Zoot Sims, Nelson Riddle, Rosemary Clooney, Fareed Haque, Charle McPhearson, and Louis Bellison. As a classical saxophonist Stephen Duke has performed for the American Ballet Theater, Bolshoi Ballet, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Rockford Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Chamber Orchestra, as well as on flute for the Illinois Chamber Orchestra.
Stephen Duke joined the faculty at the School of Music at Northern Illinois University in 1980. In 1999, he was awarded the Presidential Research Professorship.
From 1982 to 1996, Duke performed and recorded duo improvisations in jazz and contemporary music with pianist/composer Joseph Pinzarrone. In 1994 Sony/Columbia released his first solo album “Monk by 2” featuring saxophone and piano duo improvisations with Pinzarrone on the music of Thelonious Monk.
Since 1993, Stephen Duke has focused on performing new works for saxophone and has premiered and/or recorded over 20 solo works. Composers that have written solo works for him include Larry Austin, William O. Smith, Jan Bach, Cort Lippe, James Phelps, Luigi Ceccarelli, Elainie Lillios, Les Thimmig, Rodney Waschka II, Robert Fleisher, and David Maki. In 1995, he commissioned and premiered BluesAx for alto and soprano saxophone and computer music, by composer Larry Austin, for which Mr. Austin was the first American composer to receive the coveted Magistere (Magisterium) Award in the 23rd International Electroacoustic Music Competition.
Stephen Duke’s solo recordings of contemporary music include:
Helix (1983) for Solo Alto Saxophone and Chamber Octet, by Jan Bach, (“The Music of Jan Bach,” Equilibrium)
Tableaux: Convolutions on a Theme (2003-4) for alto saxophone and octophonic computer music by Larry Austin, (“Ottuplo,” CDCM Computer Music Series Volume 35, The Composer in the Computer Age X, Centaur)
Concerto for Saxophone & Orchestra (1997) by Dexter Morrill, (“Dexter Morrill: Three Concertos,” Centaur)
Tárogató! for tárogató (opt. cl, sop sax, or bass cl), dancer(s), and octophonic computer music on tape (1998) by Larry Austin, (“Octo Mixes,” EMF)
Saint Ambrose (1998-2000), A Chamber Opera in One Act for saxophonist/actor and recorded electronic computer music, by Rodney Waschka II, (“Saint Ambrose,” Capstone)
BluesAx (1995) by Larry Austin, (“Cultures Electroniques/9,” Serie GMEB/UNESCO/CIME, Bourges 1996, Prix Magisterium)
BluesAx (1995), for saxophonist and computer music/processing by Larry Austin, (“Larry Austin: SoundPlays, Cityscapes, SoundPortraits—1993-96,” CDCM Computer Music Series, Volume 28, The Composer in the Computer Age—VII)
Sax Houses (1994), for soprano saxophone, NeXT computer, and computer music on tape, by James Phelps, (The Computer in the Computer Age – VI, CDCM Computer Music Series, Volume 23)
Since 2004, Stephen Duke has performed across the country in “AD Mix”, a computer music duo with composer Larry Austin, featuring the solo saxophone/computer music of Mr. Austin. In 2005, he formed “The Steve Duke Trio” with guitarist Zvonimir Tot and bassist Marlene Rosenberg featuring original works in jazz.
As a teacher, Stephen Duke is dedicated to innovating pedagogical concepts in music performance especially in jazz and classical crossover-style performance pedagogy and also in helping musicians reduce stress in performance. Duke’s approach to teaching music is greatly influenced by his experience as a classical and jazz saxophonist and by his work on the flute and clarinet. The publication of his article “An Integrated Approach to Saxophone Technique” in Saxophone Symposium (Fall 1988) is the first article that articulates crossover-style performance techniques in classical and jazz music. In 1987, through his interest in teaching classical and jazz performance and in order to reduce his own tension in performance, Duke trained to become certified in the Feldenkrais Method® of Somatic Education. In 1989, he developed the first university curriculum in the United States that applied the method to music performance. He has worked with hundreds of musicians throughout the United States teaching them how to reduce tension and improve awareness in performance. The publication of his article “Application of the Feldenkrais Method in Learning Music Performance” in Saxophone Symposium (Spring 1996), reprinted from its 1990 publication in the NIU Faculty Bulletin, is among the first articles that document how the method may be applied to music performers.
Stephen Duke is currently writing a book on approaches to teaching by college saxophone teachers who teach both classical and jazz music in the applied studio and is recording his third solo CD of contemporary solo saxophone music including music by William O. Smith, Robert Fleisher and Stephen Duke.