Event Detail

Biographies will tell you that Stuart Saunders Smith was a prolific composer of melodically intricate and rhythmically complex music. He explored mobile forms, text pieces, and theatrical works. He was a man of great faith, and sometimes described his compositional practice as listening to the still, small voice within.

Stuart often called himself a jazz composer.

    Stuart was my friend.

Although I commissioned music from Stuart in the past, at a certain point in our long friendship, Stuart simply started sending pieces to me in the mail, newly composed. I have the great fortune of being a dedicatee of a number of those new piano works.

    In a blink, on June 3, 2024, his newest piano piece Wonder changed
    from being another piece that Stuart wrote for me, and for Drew Krause,
    to being the last piece I would ever receive from him.

Stuart possessed a great and voracious love for the sounds of American music in the 20th and 21st centuries. 

In an evening-length work of 16 movements, Wonder shines a bright light on Stuart’s musical mind, synthesizing and bringing into conversation many faceted touchstones of American art music and jazz:

    The nostalgia of Charles Ives; 
        and the present moment of Cecil Taylor
    The thoughtful spaciousness of Morton Feldman; 
        and the spiky acuteness of Thelonius Monk
    The complexity of Elliott Carter; 
        and the lyricism of John Coltrane
    The storytelling of Leonard Bernstein; 
        and the highly personal vocalism of Ella Fitzgerald.

Stuart was my friend, 
    and he entrusted me with Wonder.

So, with loving care and intention, 
I look forward to sharing with you, on November 5th and 6th,
    the world premiere of Wonder
        by my friend, Stuart Saunders Smith.

- Kyle Adam Blair