MPR: Eric Stokes 1930-1999

Eric Stokes, 1930-1999
By Lorna Benson
March 17, 1999

Eric Stokes

Formal Studies: Lawrence College (B. Mus. 1952); New England Conservatory (M. Mus. 1956); University of Minnesota (PhD, 1963).

Professor of Music, University of Minnesota (1961-88). There he founded the University's Electronic Music program (1970) and the new music ensemble program including the performance group "The First Minnesota Moving & Storage Warehouse Band" (1971). In the 60s, in a collaboration with Thomas Nee, he initiated & directed the "Here Concerts," a new music series.

Source: American Composers Forum

ST. PAUL COMPOSER ERIC STOKES died last night in a car accident. In a career spanning decades, Stokes wrote music built on classic American melodies which was performed by orchestras around the country.

In a conversation with Minnesota Public Radio's Bill Morelock for the "Composers Voice" series, he talked of how he was approached in the early 1970s by Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Stanislaw Skrowacewsky as construction of Orchestra Hall neared completion in downtown Minneapolis.

Hear complete "Composer's Voice" - May 1993 (28:30)

	Sign up to receive e-mail newsletters

	Audio help

	Text: Sm : Md : Lg