Pianist Van Cliburn dies, bone cancer, 78 years old

Van Cliburn, the American pianist whose first-place award at the 1958 Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow made him an overnight sensation and propelled him to a phenomenally successful and lucrative career, though a short-lived one, died Wednesday morning,February 27, 2013, in Fort Worth. He was 78.

NYTimes Obit | Wikipedia

Wolfgang Sawallisch, Conductor, Dies at 89

German conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch died Friday evening 22 February 2013, at age 89 at home in Grassau, Germany, near Munich. His death was announced by the Bavarian State Opera, a company with which he was long associated. The pinnacle of his long career came not in his native country, however, but with a surprising decade-long tenure as music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra that began when he was 70 years old. NPR

Sawallisch, a conductor steeped in German tradition, gained a new lease on life at the Philadelphia Orchestra.NYTimes ObitWolfgang Sawallisch (German: [ˈvɔlfɡaŋ zaˈvalɪʃ]; 26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Wikipedia

Remembering Pioneering American Conductor, Poet And Anime Inspiration James DePreist

James Anderson DePreist (November 21, 1936 – February 8, 2013) was an American conductor. DePreist was one of the first African-Americanconductors on the world stage. He was the Director Emeritus of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at The Juilliard School and Laureate Music Director of the Oregon Symphony at the time of his death. James DePreist, 76, the distinguished conductor and educator, died Friday, Feb. 9, at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., of complications from a heart attack last spring, his agent said. Born in Philadelphia, the nephew of the famed contralto Marian Anderson, Mr. DePreist became early in his career something that is still a rarity today: an African American conductor leading top-tier orchestras. More | Wikipedia

Stephen Simon, Conductor Who Led a Handel Revival, Dies at 75

Stephen Simon, a conductor who in the 1970s and afterward helped spirit the Handel revival into being in the United States, died on January 20, 2013, in Manhattan. He was 75 and lived in Manhattan.


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