Biography
Steven Schick stands among the leading figures shaping percussion music across the United States today, while simultaneously serving as a dedicated teacher. He has initiated the creation of roughly one hundred new pieces for percussion instruments.
Born in 1954 in Mason City, Iowa, Schick spent his childhood on a farm near Clear Lake. Daily agricultural tasks dominated those early years and left no exposure to modern composition, although his mother played piano with amateur passion and an uncle performed on drums in a rock ensemble. His parents supported his own drumming only after realizing that percussion participation in the high school band would require purchasing merely a pair of sticks rather than full instruments. He entered Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, intending to pursue pre-medical studies alongside band membership, yet discovered stronger affinity for musical peers and therefore transferred to the University of Iowa. There he majored in music and trained under the jazz-focused instructor Thomas L. Davis. Following his 1976 graduation, Schick remained at Iowa for a master’s degree; during that period his work with the Center for New Music sparked a sustained engagement with contemporary repertoire. As percussionist for the Center he captured first prize in an American Wind Symphony Orchestra competition in 1980. A Fulbright Fellowship awarded the next year took him to the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany, where he studied with Bernhard Wulff and received a soloist’s diploma in 1982.
In 1983 Schick joined the faculty of California State University, Fresno. Through the Affiliate Artists agency he presented Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Zyklus in diverse settings that ranged from a fruit-packing plant cafeteria to Kiwanis Club gatherings, public libraries, and nursing homes. He is recognized for performing from memory, a practice he traces to his background as a rock drummer and believes fosters deeper internalization of the material despite the added preparation time. In 1991 he joined the University of California at San Diego, where he attained the rank of Distinguished Professor before retiring in the late 2010s. His first recording, the percussion recital album Born to Be Wild, appeared in 1994. Subsequent performances included premieres of commissioned scores such as David Lang’s The Anvil Chorus, Brian Ferneyhough’s Bone Alphabet, and Roger Reynolds’ Watershed. He also introduced Rebonds by Iannis Xenakis and Kaija Saariaho’s Six Japanese Gardens to American audiences and served for a time as percussionist with the New York ensemble Bang on a Can. Between 2011 and 2019 he directed the San Francisco Contemporary Players and has additionally conducted the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra. Approximately fifteen recordings document his work, among them a complete edition of Stockhausen’s early percussion pieces issued by the Mode label. In 2022 he released Weather Systems I: A Hard Rain on the Islandia imprint.
Born in 1954 in Mason City, Iowa, Schick spent his childhood on a farm near Clear Lake. Daily agricultural tasks dominated those early years and left no exposure to modern composition, although his mother played piano with amateur passion and an uncle performed on drums in a rock ensemble. His parents supported his own drumming only after realizing that percussion participation in the high school band would require purchasing merely a pair of sticks rather than full instruments. He entered Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, intending to pursue pre-medical studies alongside band membership, yet discovered stronger affinity for musical peers and therefore transferred to the University of Iowa. There he majored in music and trained under the jazz-focused instructor Thomas L. Davis. Following his 1976 graduation, Schick remained at Iowa for a master’s degree; during that period his work with the Center for New Music sparked a sustained engagement with contemporary repertoire. As percussionist for the Center he captured first prize in an American Wind Symphony Orchestra competition in 1980. A Fulbright Fellowship awarded the next year took him to the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany, where he studied with Bernhard Wulff and received a soloist’s diploma in 1982.
In 1983 Schick joined the faculty of California State University, Fresno. Through the Affiliate Artists agency he presented Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Zyklus in diverse settings that ranged from a fruit-packing plant cafeteria to Kiwanis Club gatherings, public libraries, and nursing homes. He is recognized for performing from memory, a practice he traces to his background as a rock drummer and believes fosters deeper internalization of the material despite the added preparation time. In 1991 he joined the University of California at San Diego, where he attained the rank of Distinguished Professor before retiring in the late 2010s. His first recording, the percussion recital album Born to Be Wild, appeared in 1994. Subsequent performances included premieres of commissioned scores such as David Lang’s The Anvil Chorus, Brian Ferneyhough’s Bone Alphabet, and Roger Reynolds’ Watershed. He also introduced Rebonds by Iannis Xenakis and Kaija Saariaho’s Six Japanese Gardens to American audiences and served for a time as percussionist with the New York ensemble Bang on a Can. Between 2011 and 2019 he directed the San Francisco Contemporary Players and has additionally conducted the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra. Approximately fifteen recordings document his work, among them a complete edition of Stockhausen’s early percussion pieces issued by the Mode label. In 2022 he released Weather Systems I: A Hard Rain on the Islandia imprint.
Albums
