Richard Hayman, conductor, arranger, harmonica virtuoso Dies at 93

Richard Hayman, a Pops Concert Figure in St. Louis and Boston, Dies at 93. NYTimes Obit

Richard Hayman (March 27, 1920 – February 5, 2014) was an American arranger, harmonica player and conductor. Hayman started out as a player and arranger for the Borrah Minnevitch Harmonica Rascals before becoming an arranger for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during the early 1940s. He did arrangements (often uncredited) for the MGM films Girl Crazy, Meet Me in St. Louis and Thousands Cheer. From 1945-1950, he was musical director for the Vaughn Monroe Orchestra. In the 1950s and 60s, Hayman recorded a series of albums for Mercury Records. His 1957 outing "Havana In Hi-Fi" was first in the label's pop music stereo LP series (SR 60000). Hayman is most famous for having been the principal arranger at the Boston Pops Orchestra for over 30 years where his award-winning arrangements are still used today. He occasionally guest-conducted there, and when Arthur Fiedler had a time conflict with his job as pops conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, he recommended Hayman for the post....Wikipedia

Gerd Albrecht, German Conductor Is Dead at 78

NYTimes By MARGALIT FOX

Mr. Albrecht, a German, had a volatile run as the first non-Czech to lead the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Gerd Albrecht (19 July 1935 – 2 February 2014) was a German conductor. He was a first-prize winner at the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors at age 22. His first post was as a repetiteur at the Stuttgart State Opera. Later, he became Senior Kapellmeister at the Mainz Municipal Theatre, and Generalmusikdirektor in Lübeck. He also held posts at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and the Hamburg State Opera....Wikipedia

Riziero "Riz" Ortolani (25 March 1926 – 23 January 2014)

In the early 1950s Ortolani was founder and member of a well-known Italian jazz band. He wrote his first score for Paolo Cavara and Gualtiero Jacopetti's pseudo-documentary Mondo Cane, whose main title-song More earned him a Grammy and was also nominated for an Oscar as Best Song. The success of the soundtrack of Mondo Cane led Ortolani to score films in England and the United States such as The 7th Dawn (1964), The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), The Glory Guys (1965) and The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966). Another renowned track was his main-title for the movie O Cangaceiro (1970).

Ortolani scored all or parts of over 200 films, including German westerns like Apache's Last Battle (Old Shatterhand, 1964) and a long series of Italian giallos, spaghetti westerns, Eurospy films, Exploitation films and mondo films. Notable films scored by Ortolani include Il Sorpasso (1962), Io ho paura (1977), Castle of Blood (1964), Anzio (1968), The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968), Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso (1972), Africa Addio (1966), Addio Zio Tom (1971), House on the Edge of the Park (1980), Cannibal Holocaust (1980), and the first series of La Piovra (1984). More wikipedia Bio