Chronography

1932

Born in Brooklyn NY to Herman and Henrietta (Brody); brother Bernard, sister Thelma (Terry)

1938-1950

Attended PS 197, Cunningham JHS and James Madison HS

1949-1950

Move to Manhattan; graduated James Madison High School

1950-1953

Modern Dance study; New Dance Group, Merce Cunningham

1950-1951

New York University

1951-1954

Queens College, BA

1950-1955

Clarinet study with David Weber

1953-1955
1957-1960

Composition Study with Ben Weber

1953-1955
1957-1960

Pianist/accompanist for Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Jerome Robbins, Daniel Nagrin

1955

Marriage to Barbara Dolgin

1955-1957

Military service; solo clarinet, 7th Army Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart

1956

Passacaglia for chamber orchestra, 7th Army Symphony (Henry Lewis, conductor) Athens/Salonica, Greece; Stuttgart/Freiburg, Germany

1957-1970

Clarinetist, New York; founding member Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Gramercy Chamber Ensemble, Penn Contemporary Players, The Group for Contemporary Music; freelance with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, New York Woodwind Quintet (bass clarinet), Symphony of the Air, Radio City Music Hall, etc.

1958

Open Season, “smart revue” [unproduced]

1958

“Dance Sonata,” “Piano Sonata” commissioned by Daniel Nagrin as dance score

1958

“A Set of Three Ironies,” songs for baritone & piano, premier Richard Frisch, Carnegie Recital Hall

1958

“Overture for Brass Octet” (Robert Nagel, conductor)

1959

Son Matthew born

1960-1964

Faculty, Juilliard School (“Music for Dance”), SUNY Purchase, Sarah Lawrence College, Lincoln Center Institute

1960

Appearance off-Broadway as Judge/Pianist in Brecht’s The Exception & The Rule(Isaiah Sheffer)

1961

Son Joshua born

1962

Sometime, Soon, first musical [unproduced]

1964

Stretti for Eight Players, The Group For Contemporary Music (Arthur Bloom, conductor)

1965

ASCAP Showcase

1966

Untitled ballet with Anna Sokolow for The Manhattan Chamber Ballet

1967

Meeting with Jacques Levy, summer resort theater, Green Mansions

1968

Invited to join The Open Theater; Assassination Workshop (J. Levy), The Serpent (J.C. van Itallie), Mutation Show (Joseph Chaiken)

1968

Love’s Proper Exercise; premiere of song cycle for soprano, woodwind quintet, piano: Jan DeGaetani, The Lark Quintet, Gilbert Kalish

1968

Scuba Duba (Bruce Jay Friedman), The New Theater, NY (J. Levy, director)

1968

Image/SAM, ballet for The Harkness Ballet, (J. C. van Itallie, writer; Tom O’Horgan, director) [unproduced]

1969

Co-found The Open Window, composing/performing trio with Peter Schickele and Robert Dennis; first concerts, commission of Three Views (Walden’s part “Circus”), performed and recorded by The Louisville Orchestra (Jorge Mester); also performed by Cleveland (Louis Lane) and Chicago (Seiji Ozawa) symphonies; LP album for Vanguard Records.

1969

Oh! Calcutta! erotic revue, with The Open Window (Tynan, Levy); longest-playing revue in American theater history, produced worldwide; video, LP

1969

Talk Show (Megan Terry), The Actors Studio

1969

Horseman Pass By,, (musical director) John Duffy

1970

Meeting George Tabori; Pinkville, American Place Theater (Marty Fried, director)

1971

Hot Ginger And Dynamite, Masquerade, unproduced works

1971

Moonwalk, children’s musical with The Open Window, (B.J. Lifton) New York City Center

1971

Pinkville, Dreifaltigkeitskirche, Berlin (first German production with Tabori)

1972

The Kid (Robert Coover), American Place Theater (Jack Gelber, director)

1973

Weewis (Margo Sappington, choreographer), ballet for The Joffrey. Premier Berkely, CA (Walden, conductor); later performed by many international companies.

1973

Love’s Proper Exercise, alternate version with strings; Peggy Clapp, soprano

1974

Coronach, A Kaddish, for mezzo soprano/English horn/cantor; recorded Berlin

1974

Svengali, musical with Tom O’Horgan [unproduced]

1974

The Winter Project, Joe Chaiken, director

1974

Fandangle, theater piece for Bennett College, NY State Arts Council

1975

Sigmunds Freude (after Frederick Perls) Bremer Theater, Bremen, Germany (Tabori, director)

1975

The Crazy American Girl, film by David Newman, (Greenwich Films, Paris)

1978

The Caucasian Chalk Circle, (Brecht), Arena Stage, Washington DC (Marty Fried, director)

1979

Back Country, musical with Jacques Levy; Cohoes, NY, Wilber Theater, Boston

1979

Improvisations Over Shylock, Tabori/Shakespeare, Kammerspiele Munich

1979

Turtlenecks (or One Night Stand), B. J. Friedman/J. Levy Detroit, Philadelphia, jazz score with Paul Desmond

1979

Legno, trio for clarinet, cello, xylophone, Carnegies Recital Hall, Meyer Kupferman

1979

“Movements for Woodwind Trio”

1979

Tod & Co., theater piece after Sylvia Plath; HdK/Berlin (Tabori, director)

1980-1981

Residence in Munich:

Hamlet (E. Wendt, dir.), Kammerspiele

Der Untergang Der Titanic, H. M. Enzensberger (Tabori, director), Kammerspiele

Solo Recital: “3 Fancies,” “Animus 3” (Druckman), songs; Kammerspiele

The Conservatory, radio play, Donald Barthelme, BR (Tabori)

Traurig, Einsam & Entgultig, radio play, O. Suriano SWF

Frohes Fest (Tabori), TV/Film for ZDF (1 prize, Mannheim International FilmWoche )

My Mother’s Courage (Tabori), Kammerspiele

My Mother’s Courage, radio play, RIAS, Berlin

Desperado City, film by Vadim Glowna; winner, Camera d’Or, Cannes

1981

“Entertainments for Tuba and Three Horns”

1981

Der Voyeur (Tabori), Berliner Festwochen; score recorded by RIAS Big Band

1982

Bein’ Here Tonight, theater piece with Barbara Walden, Veronika Nowak, performed New York, Vienna (score/direction)

1983

Jubiläum (Tabori), score and leading role, Bochum, Germany

1983

Three Ladies (J. Levy), for mezzo & piano; for J. DeGaetani/G. Kalish

1983

Dr. Faustus Lights The Lights (G. Stein), Jazz opera for Cologne Theater

1984

Guest composer, Eastman School, Rochester, NY; “Entertainments,” “Double Sonata,” “Madrigal” performed

1984

Peepshow (Tabori), Bochum

1985

Claire, musical with Manfred Karge for Bochum

1985

American Dance Festival, Durham, NC; conductor, co-leader Young Composer/Choreographer Workshop

1985

“Double Sonata” for clarinet and bass clarinet; Presser Music

1985

After Auschwitz, symphony for small orchestra; Musica Viva, Eastman (Sidney Hodkinson, conductor)

1985

Die Bettleroper (Boeser/Bartsch), Renaissance Theater, Berlin (Boeser/Levy directing)

1986

Claire, TV production, WDR Cologne

1986

Claire, production in Flemish; Ghent, Belgium

1986

Invisible Cities, variations for winds, brass, percussion, harps, and keyboards: Constitutional Commission from the Philadelphia Orchestra (Erich Leinsdorf, conductor)

1986

“Two Biblical Songs” for Reri Grist, Ron Roseman, and Morey Ritt on the occasion of Queens College 50th Anniversary

1986

Über Die Städte, Brechtabend, Akedemie Theater, Vienna (Manfred Karge)

1987

Mein Kampf (Tabori), Akademie Theater, Vienna

1988

Der Tod Dankt Ab (Ulmann), Wiener Kammeroper (co-director)

1989

Masada (Tabori/Flavius), Der Kreis, Vienna

1989

Lears Schatten, (Tabori/Shakespeare), Der Kreis, Vienna; Bregenz

1989

Concert, Der Kreis, with Reri Grist, Hanna Schygulla, Manfred Karge, et al

1989

Zum Zweiten Mal (J. C. Carriere), Der Kreis, Vienna (leading role)

1989

Sigmunds Freude (Tabori/Perls), Der Kreis, Vienna

1989

Bahn Frei! musical for the HdK, Berlin (with Matthias Ulbricht; Peter Kock, director)

1990

Miami Lights, musical with J. Levy, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Fla.

1990

Five Similes, miniatures for piano solo, Gilbert Kalish at Aldeburgh Festival (UK); Robert Levin at Spectrum Concerts, Berlin & Kapell Competition

1990

Faust, Part 1 (Goethe), Bad Hersfeld Festspiele, (Peter Lotschak, director)

1990

Endangered Species (Martha Clarke, with Richard Peaslee, co-composer), Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Next Wave Festival

1991

Othello (Shakespeare), Akademie Theater, Vienna

1991

Professor and Chairman, Department of Musical/Show, HdK Berlin; move to Berlin

1991

Babylon Blues (Tabori), Burg Theater, Vienna

1992

Goldberg Variationen (Tabori), Akademie Theater, Vienna

1992

Miami Lights, TheaterWorks, Mountain View, CA

1992

Kasimir Und Karoline (Ödön von Horváth), Schlosspark Theater, Berlin (Lori Stefanek, director)

1992

Der Grossinquisitor (Tabori/Dostoyevsky), Expo 92, Seville

1992

Der Grossinquisitor (Tabori/Dostoyevsky), Residenz Theater, Munich

1993, 1995, 1997

Jury member, National Competition, Musical/Chanson, Berlin

1993

Abendwind (Offenbach), Schlosspark Theater, Berlin (Lori Stefanek, director)

1993

After Auschwitz, Mittelfest, Cividale, Italy. Budapest Chamber Orchestra (Walden, conductor)

1993

Requiem Für Einen Spion (Tabori), Akademie Theater, Vienna

1994

Brut (M. Zoschke), BAT Theater, Berlin (Angelika Domroeser, director)

1994

Der Grossinquisitor, Hans Otto Theater, Potsdam

1994

Drei Gretschen Liede (Faust), Presser Music

1994

Memini Mortuarum (soprano, mezzo soprano, cello), Eastman School, Rochester

1994

Liebe, Tod & Sonstiges: Memini Mortuarum; After Auschwitz, Brandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Potsdam (Walden, conductor)

1994

“Songs and Dances for Cello and Piano,” for Joel Krosnick, Gilbert Kalish

1994

Die 25te Stunde (Tabori), Akademie Theater, Vienna

1994

Workshop, opening of Lubimovka Arts Center, Moscow

1995

Die Geisel (Behan), Burg Theater, Vienna (musical supervisor) (Kirchner, director)

1958

Maria Magdalena, Theater in der Josefstadt, Vienna (Domroeser)

1995

Recitals with Hanna Schygulla, Hebel Theater, Berlin

1995

Delirium (Enzensberger), Thalia Theater, Hamburg (Tabori, director)

1995

Die Massenmörderin & Ihre Freunde (Tabori), Akademie Theater, Vienna

1996

Ballade Der Wiener Schnitzel (Tabori), Akademie Theater, Vienna

1997

Café Mitte, musical with Volker Ludwig, GRIPS Theater, Berlin

1997

Façade (Walton) (Walden, conductor), Spectrum Concerts, Berlin

1997

On the Town (Bernstein) (Walden, conductor and musical director), HdK, Berlin

1997

Liebster Vater (Kafka), chamber opera for Bremer Theater, Bremen (Neuhold, conductor; Tilmann Knabe, director), recorded and broadcast

1998

Liebster Vater, Berlin Kammeroper (W. Jones, conductor; K. Kunze, director)

1998

Liebster Vater, National Theater, Weimar, (M. Oldag, director)

1998

Some Changes (June Jordan), CD with Jan DeGaetani, Stanley Hasty, Albany Records

1998

L’histoire Du Soldat (Stravinsky) (Walden, conductor), Spectrum Concerts, Berlin

1998

Song Revue (Walden, director), HdK, Berlin

1998

Life Upon The Wicked Stage (book), with Barbara Walden, German language edition, Kallmayrsche Verlag, Seelze, Germany

1998

Café Mitte CD, Sony/Columbia

1998

Café Mitte Songbook, Peer Music

1999

Purgatorium (Tabori), Akademie Theater, Vienna

1999

Into the Woods (Sondheim/Lapine) (Walden, co-director), Kurt Weill Festival, Dessau; HdK, Berlin

1999

Into the Walden, song recital, Kurt Weill Festival, Dessau

1999

Guest composer, Yale School of Music

1999

Die Brecht Akte (Tabori), Berliner Ensemble, Berlin

2000

Letter To My Father (Kafka; English language version of Liebster Vater), Center for Contemporary Opera, New York, (Richard Marshall, conductor; Charles Maryan, director)

2000

Bachs Letzte Oper, opera commissioned by Den Danske Oper, Copenhagen (libretto, Jess Ornsbro) produced 2002 in Erfurt, Germany

2000

Final Callback, director/devisor, HdK, Berlin

2000

“Two Views of Transcendence” for string trio, commissioned by the Eschede Festival

2000

Love Life (Weill/Lerner) (Walden, musical director, conductor), HdK, Berlin

2000

Retirement from Professorship, HdK Berlin; Honorary Chairman for Life

2000

Sonata a Tre (flute/oboe/cello/harpsichord), commissioned by SUNY/Stony Brook

2001

Love Life, Kurt Weill Festival, Bittefeld, Germany

2001

Liebster Kurt…Dein Stanley, song recital with Sabrina Ascacíbar, Eschede; Leipzig, Germany

2001

Juror, Neue Stimmen competition (Bertelsmann), Gütersloh, Germany

2001

Workshops with Barbara Walden, HdK/Berlin; Folkwangschule/Essen and Theater Institute, Munich

2001

“Maquettes for Two Pianos,” commissioned by Robert and Ya Fei Levin

2001

Juror, Lotte Lenya Competition, Eastman School

2002

Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights (Stein) jazz opera, workshop production, Neighborhood Playhouse, New York Center for Contemporary Opera (Walden, conductor; Charles Maryan, director)

2002

Das Erdbeben Concerto (Tabori), Berliner Ensemble

2002

Liebster Kurt…Dein Stanley, Kassel; Zehdinek; Wimar; Erzgebirge; Erfurt

2002

70th Birthday Celebration, UdK/Berlin

2002

Bachs Letzte Oper, world premiere, Erfurt, Germany

2003

“Maquettes” premiered Yale University, Rbt./Ya Fei Levin

2003

Radio interview re Schocken Verein Prize for Tabori, Bremerhaven

2003

“Three Choral Warmups,” soprano, alto, tenor, bass

2004

“Trio for Clarinet,Violin and Piano,” reading at Marlboro Festival, Vermont

2004

“Fantasy Variation” for Gilbert Kalish, Gilmore Piano Festival

2004

Dogs (Tabori), chamber musical for the UdK/Berlin

2005

“Sh’mah: Duo for Violin and Cello” premiere, SUNY New Paltz

2005

Golden Anniversary Celebration in New York

2005

“Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano” premier, Stony Brook Players

2005

“Quintet for Two Violins, Viola and Two Celli” (in response to Schubert “C Major Quintet”)

2005

“Song of Hannah,” choral setting for women’s voices and cello

2005

Winter residence in Claremont/Upland CA

2005

Liebster Kurt (in English), University Club, New York

2006-2016

Master classes at the UdK, Berlin

2006

“One Thing,” sampled hip-hop use of Oh! Calcutta! awarded ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Soundtrack Song of the Year for use in (film) Hitch.

2006

“Totentanz,” last movement of chamber symphony, rewritten

2006

“Madrigal,” rewritten Blake setting from Fandangle

2006

“Quintet for Winds”

2006

Oh! Calcutta! DVD release

2006

Winter residence in Palm Springs, CA

2006

“Scenes de Ballet” for flute and piano

2006

“La Sonata Veronesa,” setting of excerpts from Romeo and Juliet for soprano, tenor, clarinet, horn, piano

2007

“Fantasy Variation” published by C. F. Peters, New York

2007

Spectrum Concerts, Berlin performance and recording of “Maquettes,” “Similes,” and “Horn Trio”

2007

Permanent move to Palm Springs.

2008

Sh’mah recorded in Berlin for release on Naxos CD “American Classics”

2008

“Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano”

2008

“Slow Drag for Two Pianos,” premiered by Robert and Ya Fei Levin, Stuttgart

2008

“Dialogues for Clarinet [Bass Clarinet] and Violin [Viola]”

2008

“String Quintet” premiere, New Paltz, New York

2009

Deadications, six miniature pieces for piano solo

2009

“This, and my heart . . . .” Seven songs to Emily Dickinson texts

2010

“Music for String Quartet”

2010

“Storni Songs” (Alfonsina Storni), soprano, piano, cello [optional]

2011

Butterfly Madam, revue musical (with Bert Peachy), Palm Springs

2012

Death of Barbara Walden

2014

Meets new partner, Rhonda Rockwell

2014

CHUTZPAH! (with Tom Gass), autobiographical film; see www.stanleywalden.com

2015

Performance at Tabori Conference, University of Georgia, Athens

2016

Death of Joshua Walden

2016

New website: stanleywalden.com

2016

Die Goldberg Variationen, musical (after Tabori) premier, Badische Staatstheater, Karlsruhe

2017

“Duo for Clarinet and Bassoon”

2018

“VLN/PNO,” Sonata for violin and piano

2018

“Jacob to His Sons,” for male chorus and piano

2018

“Father William,” for male chorus and double bass

2018

Telling Time, memoir; see www.stanleywalden.com

2018

“Quintet for Brass”

2018

“A Quartet of Sonnets (Shakespeare),” for baritone and piano

2018

“…and by the wind grieved”, setting of the prologue to “Look Homeward, Angel”, for tenor and string quartet

2019

 “Psalm 47,” (in Hebrew) for voice (congregation) and piano

2019

“Psalm 137,” (in English) for baritone and piano

2019

“Psalm 150,” (in Latin) for female voice, clarinet and piano

2019

“PSALMODY,” (In English) for tenor and piano

#1 Canto V

#2. From the Dead Sea Scrolls

#3. Paradise of Lights

2019

“BILLY’S STRAYHORN,” piano solo

2019

“5 NOT SO EASY PIECES,” piano solo

2019

“DECADE-ENCYCLE,” piano solo

2019

Performance at LACMA and BargeMusic by Daniel Schlosberg of piano pieces

2020

“SEXTET,” for piano and wind 5et