Stella Stocker


Stella Prince Stocker was an American composer and choral conductor.

Life and career

Stella Prince was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, to parents Dr. David and Lucy Manning Chandler Prince. She graduated from the Conservatory of Music in Jacksonville and the University of Michigan in 1880 with a B.A. degree, and continued her studies at the Sorbonne in Paris. She studied piano with Xaver Scharwenka and counterpoint and composition with Bruno Oscar Klein in New York City, piano with Frau Gliemann in Dresden, and voice with Giovanni Shiglia. After completing her studies, she worked as a musician, composer and lecturer in Europe and America. She was considered an expert on American Indian music and culture.
Stocker married Samuel Marston Stocker, a Duluth physician, in 1885. The couple moved to Duluth, Minnesota, where Stella founded and directed the Duluth Cecilian Chorale society and had a son, Arthur, and a daughter, Clara. Stocker died in Jacksonville, Florida. A collection of her papers is housed at the University of Minnesota Library in Duluth.

Works

Stocker composed instrumental and choral works and also for theater. Selected works include: