Delores Stevens Obituary

Delores Stevens

January 29, 1930 – March 7, 2024

Pacific Palisades, California

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Delores Wunsch Stevens on March 7th 2024 at the age of ninety-four.

Delores Stevens was born to former Kansas Senate President Pro Tem Paul R. Wunsch and the former Bula Staley on Kansas Day, 1930, in Kingman, Kansas and studied with the noted Bach piano authority Jan Chiapusso at the University of Kansas. Upon graduation she took a position teaching piano at the Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii. There she met her husband James and moved to Pacific Palisades, California where they had a daughter, Victoria, who graduated from KU with honors in philosophy and a minor in theatre and cello performance, and son Paul, who after a career in the Film/Television industry moved to Lawrence in 1999 with his wife Annie and their two children, Hannah and Mark, and held the position of Professor of Horn in the KU School of Music until October of 2023.

Delores, along with her brother, former Kansas House Representative Robert S. Wunsch and wife Barbara, supported the KU School of Music in many efforts, including the Wunsch New Music Festival which continues to provide students and the public with the opportunity to experience innovative new music from some of today's leading composers and ensembles.

In addition to her Kansas life, she has been recognized as a leading soloist, chamber musician, and music educator across the United States and toured throughout the world to Argentina, Australia, the Czech Republic, Japan, China, Spain, England, and Scandinavia as a soloist and as part of the famed Montagnana Trio with cellist Caroline Worthington and clarinetist John Gates. With the Montagnana Trio she recorded 28 pieces of commissioned music including pieces by Daniel Lentz, Barney Childs, Per Norgård and played a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. As a soloist she gave premieres of Poul Ruders' Sonata No. 2, Arne Nordheim's Listen, and Per Norgård's Turn.

In Los Angeles, she performed regularly on the LA Philharmonic/Green Umbrella Series, the Ojai Festival, Monday Evening Concerts, Chamber Music in Historic Sites, the Coleman Chamber Concerts, and the Athenaeum Chamber Concerts, among others.

Her consistent support of contemporary composers, including numerous commissions for the Martha's Vineyard Chamber Music Society and Chamber Music Palisades led to an award from the National Association of Composers, the Presidential Award of Merit from the International Music Fraternity of Mu Phi Epsilon, and the prestigious Living Legends Award from the Young Musicians Foundation presented to her by the legendary composer John Williams.

She served six terms as Director and a Trustee of the Recording Academy (the Grammys) and was a founder of Grammys in the Schools, and recorded for over fifteen labels including Orion, Laurel, Delos, Grenadilla, and Musical Heritage Records from Hindemith to Mozart.

She taught young classical artists for over 30 years in her role as Director of Chamber Music for the Young Musicians Foundation in Los Angeles, 29 years as Head of Piano Studies at CSU-Dominguez Hills, Chair of Piano Performance at California Institute of the Arts, 33 years as Head of Piano Studies at Mount St. Mary's University, and in 1988 she was awarded a 6-year Touring Solo Artist Grant from the California Arts Council.

The celebration of her 90th birthday in 2020 included letters of congratulations and appreciation from California Governor Gavin Newsom, then Senator Kamala Harris, the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, Representative Ted Lieu, former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, and members of the California State Senate and Assembly, as well as from The Recording Academy and the Disney Channel.

Delores is survived by her husband, James Stevens, daughter Victoria Stevens, son Paul Stevens, daughter-in-law Annie Stevens, grandchildren Hannah and Mark Stevens.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Wunsch New Music Festival at the University of Kansas School of Music.