"Bracing, complex, and entirely engaging ... the directness of its expression and the continuous invention of its lines establish an unflagging rapport between composer and listener."
– Daniel Cariaga, Los Angeles Times
"... this music pulsates with rhythmic energy and revels in the coloristic possibilities of a large orchestra. Son et lumière is a fast-paced, gripping work with considerable substance beneath its coruscating surface."
– Derrick Henry, Atlanta Journal and Constitution
"Son et lumière ... with its crisp percussion bursts, its trading back and forth between sections of melodic figurations, its gleaming colors and minimalist pulses ... has a wild power about it. Staccato brass fanfares gave way to vaporous textures, gradually vibrating into a slow-build across the orchestra, exquisite and prickly, too ... "
– Richard Scheinen, San Jose Mercury News
Chamber Concerto
"[Stucky's] Chamber Concerto is lyrical, colorful, atmospheric and, in its dark Largo section, gripping; it also manages to evade the self-congratulatory quality that bedevils scores written to exhibit the virtuosity of their players."
– Minneapolis Star Tribune
Spirit Voices for Percussionist and Orchestra
"The work ... is not traditionally structured. It's as if you have to be able to maintain at any one moment a consciousness of what has been and an awareness of what's to come for this piece to work, as it certainly did for me ... the orchestral score is as glittering, delicate, and substantial as the soloist's."
– Gil French, Tempo
Second Concerto for Orchestra
"A colorful, delight-bringing score, it has the feel of music we know well lovingly replanted to charm new surroundings ... a perfect fit for an orchestra, conductor and audience. It is music expertly designed to show off the Philharmonic, Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Disney acoustic at their dazzling best."
– Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times
"... a distinguished addition to [his list of works created for the Los Angeles Philharmonic]. ... a fascinating amalgam: color, rhythm, propulsion ... bright solo instrumental writing and breath-stopping dark sonorities."
– Alan Rich, LA Weekly
