Bruce Stark received his master's in composition from the Juilliard School where he studied with Roger Sessions and Vincent Persichetti. Afterward he lived and worked in Tokyo for 20+ years before returning to Redmond, Washington, in 2013 where he serves on the music faculty of the DigiPen Institute of Technology.

“Song of the Whale (1993) was composed for tuba player Yasuki Tosaka, who championed the work in numerous performances throughout Japan. Rather than attempting to imitate the actual sounds of whales — which are themselves amazing — in this piece I wanted to express through music my impression of these mysterious, majestic creatures. Tuba and piano (whale and ocean) seemed a natural fit for evoking this image through music.”
– Bruce Stark