Arthur Durkee

Arthur Durkee playing the Chapman Stick
Guest Clinician, Chapman Stick Workshop, Interlochen College of Creative Arts

About Arthur

Art is a lifelong musician, starting piano at age 6, choir at 10, and bass at 13. He took up the Chapman Stick in 1990, which quickly became his main instrument. He also plays NS/Stick, percussion, and bamboo flutes. He has performed solo and in ensembles in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, New Mexico, California, Oregon, and Canada. He is an award winning composer of choral and chamber music, with a degree in Music Composition from University of Michigan, minoring in Early Music and Ethnomusicology. In 1985 he lived and studied gamelan music in Java, Indonesia, as a Fulbright Scholar. He has shared the concert stage with notable composers such as George Cacciopo, Gordon Mumma, and Robert Seeley. Art is a published poet and book artist; selected publications include Solo Journey (1987), Scattered Leaves (2019), RedLine (2025), Destionationless (2025), and Feet in the Waves: Poems of Lake Superior (2026), which features his photographic illustrations.