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William Stokking Jr (cellist)

William Stokking Jr (April 6, 1933 to December 14, 2014)

William Stokking Jr. was born in Ventnor, New Jersey, near Atlantic City on April 6, 1933. His Dutch-born father, William Stokking Sr. was a professional violinist, playing in theater orchestras who gave his son his first musical instruction. His mother was Swedish-born. Stokking studied with Gregor Piatigorsky at the Curtis Institute, graduating in the Class of 1949. At the outbreak of the Korean War, he enlisted in the Navy and became solo cello with the Navy Band and Orchestra in Washington, D.C. While in Washington, he was in the master's/doctoral program at Catholic University. William Stokking joined the cello section of the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell in the 1958-1959 season, and remained for two seasons until 1960. William Stokking returned to the Cleveland Orchestra as Principal cello in the 1971-1972 in the interim between George Szell's death and the appointment of Lorin Maazel, when Pierre Boulez was Musical Advisor. Stokking remained Principal cello until the end of Lorin Maazel's first season in Cleveland 1972-1973. William Stokking then returned to Philadelphia, appointed Principal cello of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy in the 1973-1974 season. William Stokking served as Principal cello in Philadelphia for 33 seasons, retiring at the end of 2002-2003. In the early 2000s, William Stokking, a long-time New Jersey resident was Principal cello of the Princeton Chamber Symphony. William Stokking retired in 2005. He has appeared as a soloist with the orchestras in Philadelphia; New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Baltimore.