Bernard Zaslav (April 7, 1926 - December 28, 2016)

Bernard Zaslav was an American viola soloist and chamber musician with an extensive recording and performance career. A founding member of The Composers Quartet in 1965, he went on to play with the Fine Arts Quartet, Vermeer Quartet, and the Stanford String Quartet. He has also performed and recorded as the Zaslav Duo with his wife, pianist Naomi Zaslav. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: Bernard Zaslav, viola and Naomi Zaslav, piano Hall Overton's Sonata for Viola and Piano Recorded in concert on June 22, 1989 at the 17th International Viola Congress at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California.

Lotte Rysanek-Doerle, Austrian Soprano, Dies at 93

Rysanek-Doerler died Wednesday, 14 DEC 2016, at age 93. The sister of the late Austrian dramatic soprano Leonie Rysanek, Rysanek-Doerler appeared in nearly 1,000 performances and close to 50 roles at the State Opera. Appearances at other top venues included the Bayreuth Festival the Munich State Opera and the Hamburg State Opera. Rysanek-Doerler also was an accomplished operetta and concert singer. WorldNews VIDEO: Wiener Staatsoper Il Trovatore 11.4.1971 LIVE "d'amor sul ali rose" Lotte Rysanek Horst Stein dir

Elizabeth Bell (1928 – December 19, 2016) was an award winning American composer.

ELIZABETH BELL was born in 1928; graduated from Wellesley College (Music) in 1950, and from Juilliard (Composition) in 1953. She was music critic of the Ithaca Journal, 1971-1975; one of the founders and a longtime director of New York Women Composers; and a member of Board of Governors of American Composers Alliance, 2000-2004. She received grants and commissions from fine artists around the world, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Bradshaw/Buono duo, the Inoue Chamber Ensemble, North/South Consonance, the Putnam Valley Orchestra, and Vienna Modern Masters. Awards included the Delius Prize (Keyboard), 1994; first prize (1986), and grand prize (1996) in the Utah Composers Competition; many Meet-the-Composer grants.

  WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: Elizabeth Bell - composer Student years at Wellesley and graduate school at Juilliard - On composition and rule-breaking

Heinrich Schiff (born 18 November 1951, in Gmunden, Austria; 23 December 2016 in Wien) was an Austrian cellist and conductor.

He studied cello with Tobias Kühne and André Navarra and made his solo debut in Vienna and London in 1971. He studied conducting with Hans Swarovsky, and made his conducting debut in 1986. Schiff was Artistic Director of the Northern Sinfonia from 1990 to 1996, and recorded with them for the NMC label. He also held chief conductorships with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra in Copenhagen, Denmark(1996–2000), and the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur. In 2004, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and served in the post from 2005 to 2008. He stood down from the post in 2008 for health reasons. Schiff plays the "Mara" Stradivarius (1711) and "Sleeping Beauty" made by Montagnana in Venice in 1739. His recording of the Bach Cello Suites won prizes, and his recording of the Shostakovich concertos won the Grand Prix du Disque. His recording of the Brahms Double Concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Wolfgang Sawallisch won the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. Composers who have written cello concertos for Schiff include John Casken and Friedrich Cerha. Among his students are Rudi Spring, Gautier Capuçon, Richard Harwood and Natalie Clein. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO...Heinrich Schiff BBC Interview Dmitri Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Opus 107

 

Karel Husa (August 7, 1921 – December 14, 2016)

Karel Husa was a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Music and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition.[1] In 1954 he went to the United States and became an American citizen in 1959.

  WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: Karel Husa (*1921): Sinfonia n.1 (1953) -- Orchestra Sinfonica di Praga diretta da Karel Husa --

 

Elliott Schwartz (January 19, 1936 – December 7, 2016) was an American composer.

A graduate of Columbia University, he was Beckwith Professor Emeritus of music at Bowdoin College joining the faculty in 1964. In 2006, the Library of Congress acquired his papers to make them part of their permanent collection. Elliott Schwartz ca.2006 Photo Erik Jorgensen He held visiting residencies and fellowships at the University of California (Santa Barbara and San Diego), Ohio State University, Harvard University, Tufts University, Cambridge and Oxford Universities (UK), and the Rockefeller Foundation Study Center (Bellagio, Italy). Performances of his music include the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Houston Symphonies, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Kreutzer and Borromeo Quartets, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Symphony Space and the MOMA Summer Garden (NYC); Tanglewood, the Bath Festival (UK); Leningrad Spring (Russia), Gaudeamus Music Week (Netherlands), and the European Youth Orchestra Festival (Denmark). Recordings of his music can be heard on the New World, CRI, Capstone, Innova, Albany and GM labels. A CD recording of his six chamber concertos has recently been released by BMOP-SOUND. In 2006, Schwartz’s 70th birthday was celebrated with concerts, lectures and residencies at the University of Minnesota, the Library of Congress (Washington), Oxford, and the Royal Academy of Music (London). WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: ELLIOTT SCHWARTZ'S "Voyager for Orchestra" (2002) 

Kamilló Lendvay (28 December 1928 − 30 November 2016) Hungarian composer, conductor, and music educator

 Lendvay was born in Budapest and attended the Franz Liszt Academy of Music from 1949 to 1957, where he studied with János Viski and László Somogyi. He began his career in Szeged as a conductor, music coach, and director of the choir at Szeged Opera and then was musical director of the State Puppet Theatre from 1960 to 1966, musical director of the Hungarian Army Art Ensemble from 1966 to 1968, and conductor and (from 1972) musical director of the Budapest Operetta Theatre from 1970 to 1974. He was a professor at the Liszt Academy from 1972 to 1992, where he was head of the music theory department from 1976. WIKIPEDIA VIDEO...Requiem y Kyrie del Requiem de Kamillo Lendvay

RIP...Jerrold Rubenstein, a New Yorker who became concertmaster at La Monnaie orchestra in Brussels and later of the Belgian national orchestra.

- See more at: slipped disc
Was born in in New York City, United States and became concertmaster at La Monnaie orchestra in Brussels and later of the Belgian national orchestra. A formidable chamber musician, widely recorded, Jerrold taught for 30 years at the Antwerp Conservatoire, and at Izmir and Dublin. He founded the Festival Mozart at Waterloo.

- See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2016/12/death-of-a-noted-concertmaster-and-festival-founder/#sthash.MastH971.tGrwiPcQ.dpuf

VIDEO...Jerrold Rubenstein & Dalia Ouziel - Brahms violin sonata 1 (1st mvt)

RIP...death of Donald Montanaro, a legendary teacher at the Curtis Institute

He played in the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1957 to 2005. A student of Daniel Bonade, the first clarinet teacher at Curtis, he represented a line of tradition that stretched back 90 years and more. His students occupy principal positions in many of the world’s premier ensembles. He was a member of the New Orleans Symphony before joining the Philadelphia Orchestra as associate principal clarinet in 1957, a position he held until 2005. Mr. Montanaro has performed at the Marlboro and Casals festivals and toured Europe and the Far East as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles. He is a founder and the music director of the Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble. A member of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1957 to 2005 and a Curtis faculty member since 1980, his students can be found around the world, occupying important positions in Beijing, Dallas, Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Malmö, Mexico City, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seoul, and Toronto; as well as the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. - See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2016/12/the-go-to-clarinet-teacher-has-died/#sthash.6y4WdfIx.t3oZnoAk.dpuf

 

Cliff Barrows, Billy Graham’s Longtime Musical Director, Dies at 93

Clifford Burton Barrows (April 6, 1923 – November 15, 2016) was a longtime music and program director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He had been a part of the Graham organization since 1949. Barrows was best known as the host of Graham's weekly Hour of Decision radio program, and the song leader and choir director for the crusade meetings. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: George Beverly Shea and Cliff Barrows reminisce during a Senior Celebration at The Cove in Asheville, NC on September 20, 2011 (the last time Bev Shea sang in public). These two have been in ministry together with their good friend, Billy Graham, for over 60 years. Watch as Bev Shea tells how he composed the music for I'd Rather Have Jesus. Enjoy the music and the stories! 
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Florence Agnes Henderson (February 14, 1934 – November 24, 2016) was an American actress and singer

Henderson started her career on the stage, performing in musicals, such as the touring production of Oklahoma! and South Pacific at Lincoln Center. She debuted on Broadway in the musical Wish You Were Here in 1952, and later starred on Broadway in the long-running 1954 musical, Fanny (888 performances) in which she originated the title role. Henderson, along with Bill Hayes, appeared in the Oldsmobile commercials from 1958 through 1961 on The Patti Page Show for which Oldsmobile was the sponsor. Henderson also appeared on Broadway in The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963). In 1962, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre, and the same year became the first woman to guest host The Tonight Show in the period after Jack Paar left as the show's host, and before Johnny Carson began his 30 years as the show's longest serving host in October of 1962. She also joined the ranks of what was then called "The Today Girl" on NBC's long running morning show, doing weather and light news, a position also once held by Barbara Walters. WIKIPEDIA VIDEO Florence Henderson sings "My Love" on Hollywood Palace 03/04/1967

Ida Levin ( 1963 - 19 NOV 2016)

American concert violinist Ida Levin has passed away after a lengthy battle with leukemia – aged just 53. Ms Levin made her professional debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, aged 10, and went on to receive a prestigious Leventritt Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Levin taught at the Sander Vegh International Chamber Music Academy in Prague and was a former faculty member of Harvard University and the European Mozart Academy. An active concert performer and recitalist, Levin performed throughout the world at such venues as the 92nd Street Y, London's Wigmore Hall, the Morgan Library, and Avery Fisher Hall to name just a few. Internationally, she performed in England, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Israel. She was also an active performer of chamber music and a member of the Boston Chamber Music Society. She also regularly played in Open Chamber Music in Cornwall, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Da Camera of Houston. She died of leukemia in November 2016 at the age of 53. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: 2014 Winter Festival violinist Ida Levin talks about her love for Tchaikovsky and what makes his second string quartet unique as she finishes up the complete cycle of Tchaikovsky string quartets that she began during the 2012 Summer Festival. 

Jules Eskin, Cellist With Boston Symphony Orchestra, Dies at 85

Jules Louis Eskin (October 20, 1931 – November 15, 2016) was an American cellist who was the principal cellist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He was born in Philadelphia. With conductor Seiji Ozawa, he is known for solo performances of well-known works by Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Fauré, and Beethoven. Prior to joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he spent three years with the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell. He also played for the Boston Chamber Players and Burton Quintet Five. Eskin died at the age of 85 on November 15, 2016 in Brookline, Massachusetts from cancer. VIDEO: NYTimes Obit

 VIDEO: Gabriel Faurè : Elegie op.24 for Cello and Orchestra - Jules Eskin, cello and Seiji Ozawa and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
 

Mose Allison, Jazz and Blues musician , Dies at 89

Mose John Allison, Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz blues pianist, singer and songwriter. Allison wrote some 150 songs. His performances were described as being "delivered in a casual conversational way with a melodic southern accented tone that has a pitch and range ideally suited to his idiosyncratic phrasing, laconic approach and ironic sense of humour". WIKIPEDIA VIDEO... Mose Allison, Jazz piano player. Mose Allison was honored as one of the 2013 Jazz Masters by the National Endowment for the Arts at Lincoln Center on January 14, 2013. The NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship is the highest honor that our nation bestows on jazz artists. Each year since 1982, the program has elevated to its ranks a select number of living legends who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz.

Al Caiola, Guitarist on Themes for 'Bonanza' and 'The Magnificent Seven,' Dies at 96

Alexander Emil "Al" Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was a guitarist, composer and arranger who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz, country, rock, western, and pop. He recorded over fifty albums and worked with some of the biggest names in music during the 20th century, including Elvis Presley, Ferrante & Teicher, Frank Sinatra, Percy Faith, Buddy Holly, Mitch Miller, and Tony Bennett. During World War II Caiola played with the United States Marine Corps 5th Marine Division (United States) Band that also included Bob Crosby. Caiola served in the Battle of Iwo Jima as a stretcher bearer. WIKIPEDIA

Hungarian pianist and conductor Zoltan Kocsis dies at age 64

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Zoltan Kocsis, a famed pianist and conductor and musical director of the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, has died at age 64. The Philharmonic said Kocsis died Sunday afternoon, 6 NOV 2016. No specific cause of death was given, but Kocsis underwent major heart surgery in 2012. In October, 2016, the orchestra announced that he was suffering from poor health and, following doctors’ orders, cancelling most of his concerts to rest and recuperate.
  Zoltán Kocsis 30 May 1952 – 6 November 2016

He was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist, conductor, and composer. Born in Budapest, he began his musical studies at the age of five and continued them at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in 1963, studying piano and composition. In 1968 he was admitted to the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he was a pupil of Pál Kadosa, Ferenc Rados and György Kurtág, graduating in 1973. He won the Hungarian Radio Beethoven Competition in 1970, and made his first concert tour of the United States in the following year. He received the Liszt Prize in 1973, and the Kossuth Prize in 1978. Kocsis performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Philharmonia of London, and the Vienna Philharmonic. He recorded the complete solo piano works and works with piano and orchestra of Béla Bartók. In 1990, his recording of Debussy's Images won "The Gramophone" Instrumental Award for that year. He won another in 2013 in the chamber category with Bartók works. American critic Harold C. Schonberg praised Kocsis' technique and piano tone. Kocsis co-founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 1983. He was the musical director of the Hungarian National Philharmonic. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO...Mozart K331 Piano Sonata A major, Kocsis Zoltán fortepiano
 

Death of Michael Antrobus | British Bandsman

Michael Antrobus (18 April 1943 - 23 October 2016)

Michael Antrobus — the former resident conductor of Black Dyke and a major musical influence on the Norwegian banding movement... at the age of 73 in Norway, where he moved in 1981 following a successful spell as Resident Conductor of Black Dyke Mills from 1978.

  rbarsrest British Bandsman

Gerhard Wimberger (30 August 1923 – October 2016) was an Austrian composer and conductor.

Wimberger studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. His teachers were Cesar Bresgen and Johann Nepomuk David for composition, and Clemens Krauss and Bernhard Paumgartner for conducting. After World War II, in which he served in the army, he worked as vocal coach at the Vienna Volksoper, then as conductor at the Salzburg Theatre, before becoming a teacher for conducting and composition at the Mozarteum. Among his many pupils were Klaus Ager, Sergio Cárdenas, Dieter Lehnhoff, and Gerd Kühr. Wimberger also served as member of the directory of the Salzburg Festival, and as president of the Austrian Composers' Association AKM. He died in October 2016 at the age of 93.WIKIPEDIA Bio

 VIDEO: Gerhard Wimberger and his son and family in Salzburg and Puerto Vallarta. Song written by Gerhard Wimberger. 

Vladimir Leyetchkiss August 8, 1934 - October 11, 2016

Evanston, Illinois... One of the last pupils of the great Heinrich Neuhaus, Vladimir Leyetchkiss began his piano studies in Baku, Russia and later studied at the Moscow Conservatory. Emigrating from Russia to the United States in 1974, Vladimir has built a reputation as a concert pianist, teacher and a transcriber, specializing in Russian and Romantic music. Leyetchkiss is a frequent performer on WFMT and has done several European tours. He has served as a juror in many piano competitions and appeared as soloist at national conventions of the American Liszt Society and the International Rachmaninoff Society.

 VIDEO Vladimir Leyetchkiss, piano Rec. 1991-07 (Chicago Public Library)
 

American composer Donald H. White was 95...

Donald H. White (February 28, 1921 – October 4, 2016) was a 20th-century American composer. Donald White was born in Narberth, Pennsylvania in 1921. He studied Music Education at Temple University in Philadelphia and composition with Persichetti at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music (1946) and with Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson at the Eastman School of Music (1952). In 1947 he joined the faculty of DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana where he was chairman of composition and theory studies (1948–81). He was the director of the school of music at Depauw from 1974-1978. He became the chairman of the music department at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington in 1980. White died at the age of 95 on October 4, 2016.

  WIKIPEDIA | Depauw.edu    VIDEO: "Ambrosian Hymn Variants" by Donald H White

Former MET Opera announcer PETER ALLEN dies at 96

Peter Allen (September 17, 1920–October 8, 2016) 

Mr. Allen, who presided over 29 seasons of broadcasts, said introducing performances was, except for his marriage, “the richest experience of my life.” N YTimes 

Peter Allen was an American broadcaster and radio announcer based in New York City. He was especially noted for his 29 years as announcer for the Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera. WIKIPEDIA

 Allen began his long tenure as announcer at WQXR radio in 1947. His connection with the Metropolitan Opera began in 1973 when he served as the backup for Milton Cross who had been announcing the Met's Saturday afternoon broadcasts since their inception in 1931. In 1975, after Cross's sudden death, Allen took over as announcer for the Met and continued in the job until 2004.

Sir Neville Marriner, CH, CBE (15 April 1924 – 2 October 2016) was an English conductor and violinist.

Marriner was born in Lincoln, England, and studied at the Royal College of Music and the Paris Conservatoire. He played the violin in the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Martin String Quartet and London Symphony Orchestra, playing with the last two for 13 years. He later formed the Jacobean Ensemble with Thurston Dart before going to Hancock, Maine, in the United States to study conducting with Pierre Monteux at his school there. In 1958, he founded the Academy of St Martin in the Fields chamber orchestra and recorded copiously with them. Marriner was the first music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, from 1969 to 1978. From 1979 to 1986, he was music director of the Minnesota Orchestra. He was principal conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1986 to 1989. Marriner recorded for various labels, including Argo, L'Oiseau Lyre, Philips and EMI Classics. His recorded repertoire ranges from the baroque era to 20th century British music, as well as opera. Among his recordings are two CDs of British music for Philips Classics with Julian Lloyd Webber, including acclaimed performances of Benjamin Britten's Cello Symphony and Sir William Walton's Cello Concerto. Marriner also supervised the Mozart selections for the soundtrack of the 1984 film Amadeus. He was chairman of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields chamber orchestra until 1992, when he was succeeded by Malcolm Latchem. Marriner held the title of Life President. He was the father of the clarinettist Andrew Marriner, principal clarinet of the London Symphony Orchestra.

VIDEO: The Academy of St Martin in the Fields was founded by the now legendary conductor Sir Neville Marriner in 1958. Watch to find out a little more about Sir Neville and his relationship with the Academy, whilst enjoying the Academy's performance of the opening to Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner in April 2014. Read more about Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy at: http://www.asmf.org/sir-neville-marri...

 

Emilio Gravagno, Philadelphia Orchestra double bassist

Emilio Anthony Gravagno, 82, a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s double-bass section for more than four decades, died Saturday, 24 September 2016, at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after a long struggle with lymphoma. Born in Chicago, Mr. Gravagno took up the double bass in high school. He attended Southeastern Louisiana College and DePaul University before entering Curtis in 1954, where he studied with Roger Scott. After his Curtis graduation in 1958, he played in the New Orleans Symphony and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, joining the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1967. PHILLY.COM

Conductor Paul Wolfe has died

For 34 years Paul Wolfe was conductor and artistic director of the Florida West Coast Symphony, in Sarasota. He was also first violinist of the Sarasota String Quartet and founder-director of the Sarasota Music Festival, retiring in 2006 at the age of 80.
 During his more than three decades as artistic director and conductor of the Florida West Coast Symphony, Paul Wolfe invited audiences to share his passion for music while ensuring that thousands of students received a meaningful introduction into the world of the classics. During his 34-year tenure, Wolfe led countless concerts for the organization now known as the Sarasota Orchestra, performed in what is now the Sarasota String Quartet, co-founded the Sarasota Music Festival and expanded and enthusiastically conducted the organization’s vibrant youth orchestra. Wolfe retired from the orchestra in 1996.

South African star tenor Johan Botha has died at age 51.

Johan Botha (19 August 1965–8 September 2016) was a South African operatic tenor. Botha was born in Rustenburg, South Africa. He made his stage debut at the municipal theatre in Roodepoort as Max in Der Freischütz in 1989. His international breakthrough occurred in 1993 at the Opéra Bastille as Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Since then he performed at leading opera venues around the world such as the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera which made him a Kammersänger in 2003, Opera Australia, Royal Opera House (London), La Scala, and the Salzburg Festival. At the time of his death he lived in Vienna, Austria with his wife and two sons. VIDEO: In Verdi's masterful adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy, a great warrior discovers the one weapon against which he has no defense—his own jealousy. Johan Botha, the South African tenor praised by The New York Times for his "effortless power and clarion tone," makes his San Francisco Opera debut in the title role. Bulgarian soprano Zvetelina Vassileva brings tenderness and vocal brilliance to the role of Desdemona, the faithful wife who finds facts are no match for manufactured suspicion. Music Director Nicola Luisotti, praised by London's Financial Times for conveying Verdi's "sweep, lyricism and subtle detail," conducts

Organist Raymond Daveluy died August 31, 2016

Joseph Eugène Raymond-Marie Daveluy (23 December 1926 – 1 September 2016) was a Canadian composer, organist, music educator, and arts administrator. An associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, his compositional output consisted mainly of works for solo organ. He had an active international career as a recitalist and concert performer from 1946 through the 1990s. He held a number of church posts in Montreal, including serving as organist of St-Jean-Baptiste Church (1946–1951), Immaculée-Conception Church (1951–1954), and St-Sixte Church (1954–1959). In 1980, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada. He was married to pianist Hilda Metcalfe. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Raymond Daveluy, compositeur agréé au Centre de musique canadienne, nous parle de sa 7e sonate pour orgue. 

Former Berlin Philharmonic principal cellist Eberhard Finke has died aged 96

Eberhard Finke was one of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s most influential musicians of the postwar period. Now he died at the age of 96. Born in Bremen, he studied at the Staatliche akademische Hochschule für Musik in Berlin and at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Following an engagement as first principal cellist in Rio De Janeiro, he took over the same position with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Wilhelm Furtwängler in 1950. Until his retirement in 1985, he could be heard as a soloist with the orchestra in many concert performances. In 1972, he was one of the founding members of the 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker. From 1969, Eberhard Finke taught as a professor at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. Until a few years ago, he held masterclasses and was a judge at competitions. BERLIN PHILHARMONIC

Samo Hubad (1917 - 2016), Slovene conductor.

Conductor Samo Hubad has died September 1, 2016, at age 99. TRANSLATED: (Noted for)...Composition and conducting , he studied in the Slavko Osterc and Danilo Švara and completed it in C. Schmeidlu and Carlo Zecchiju and when Vaclav Talichu in Prague . As a versatile musician who in his youth also devoted to jazz and was a member of the first band Big Band Radio Ljubljana , by the spring of 1945 assembled composer Bojan Adamic . Throughout his working life he was leading Slovenian conductor. Between 1942 and 1958 he conducted the Opera and Ballet in Ljubljana , where he was between 1948 and 1952, the director, between 1959 and 1964 he was the permanent guest conductor of the Zagreb opera , between 1955 and 1957, also the chief conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic . In the period between 1947 and 1966 he was chief conductor of the Slovenian Philharmonic . Maestro Hubad has also developed a successful international career. He has conducted more than sixty orchestras around the world, including Munich, Budapest, Warsaw, Bucharest and Leningrad Philharmonic, Radio Orchestra in Helsinki, Paris, Bratislava, Bucharest and Moscow, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, repeatedly conducted at the prestigious Festival Maggio Musicale Fiorentino . He has led performances at opera houses in Belgrade , Zagreb opera led to guest appearances in Paris , in Holland and in Italy as the only Slovenian conductor until today, he has directed the Teatro Verdi in Tries. SLIPPED DISC OBIT VIDEO:

Mary Gallagher O’Rourke: Irish classical violinist

Mary Gallagher O’Rourke accepted the crucial role of forming not one, but two chamber orchestras, which were the highlights of Irish music-making from 1970 onwards. Formerly of Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra, College of Music, Dublin, New Irish Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra of St. Cecilia.


  IRISH TIMES OBIT

Staatskapelle Weimar...death of first Kapellmeister, Martin Hoff.

The Staatskapelle Weimar suffered a tragic loss with the sudden and unexpected death of first Kapellmeister, Martin Hoff...
28 AUGUST 2016.
Martin Hoff studied at the CARL MARIA VON WEBER conservatoire in Dresden, taking conducting with Prof. Hartmut Haenchen and Prof. Siegfried Kurz while also studying rehearsal support and piano. A year before graduating he obtained his first engagement as solo répétiteur with conducting responsibilities at the Halle Opera, where he was later director of studies and kapellmeister. MORE

 Martin Hoff  was 52 and the cause of death is not yet known. -

See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2016/08/tragic-sunday-german-orchestra-is-stunned-by-conductors-sudden-death-at-52/#sthash.hdEd3jD6.dpuf

KENDALL BETTS, US principal horn has died, aged 68

Kendall Betts, one of the leading US horn players of the past two generations. He had been suffering from lung cancer. Picked by Eugene Ormandy for the Philadelphia at age 18, he freelanced with various ensembles before settling as principal horn of the Minnesota Orchestra from 1979 to 2004. Kendall Betts Horn Camp was considered one of the instrument’s best education programs. 

- See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2016/08/formidable-us-principal-horn-has-died-aged-68/#sthash.FdOie4Ei.dpuf 

VIDEO: Photos and music from Kendall Betts Horn Camp 2014

Italian Soprano Daniela Dessi Dies at 59

Italian soprano Daniela Dessì, known for her performances at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, died on Saturday evening in Brescia, Italy, after a short battle with colon cancer. She was 59. Daniela Dessì (14 May 1957 – 20 August 2016) Dessì completed her studies at the Conservatory of Parma and the Accademia Chigiana of Siena, Italy. After winning the first prize at the International Competition organized by Italy's RAI TV in 1980, she debuted with the comic opera La serva padrona by Pergolesi. Her international career took her to a variety of opera theatres, singing under the direction of orchestra conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado and the Metropolitan Opera's James Levine. Dessì's 2008–2009 season began with Tosca in Florence, where she performed an encore of "Vissi d'arte", the first encore at Teatro Comunale di Firenze since Renata Tebaldi's "Amami Alfredo" in 1956. She later performed at the Verdi Theatre in Trieste, and also performed Adriana Lecouvreur in Palermo, Puccini's La fanciulla del West in Seville, Manon Lescaut in Warsaw, Madama Butterfly in Hanover and Aida in Verona and Cagliari. She closed the season in Barcelona with Turandot. In January 2009, she opened the season of recital at La Scala. On 20 August 2016 Dessì died of cancer at the age of 59. -- Wikipedia

Toots Thielemans: Belgian harmonica player dies at 94

BBC OBIT OFFICIAL SITE
 Toots Thielemans (born Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans, 29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016) was a Belgian jazz musician. He was known for his guitar and harmonica playing, as well as his whistling skills. Because of health issues that led to show cancellations, Thielemans announced his retirement on 12 March 2014, cancelling all scheduled concerts. His manager stated that Thielemans "wants to enjoy the rest he deserves." However, he did make one more stage appearance, unannounced, in August 2014, at the Jazz Middelheim Festival in Antwerp. A popular instrumental and jazz standard composed and recorded by Toots Thielemans is "Bluesette," where he used whistling and guitar in unison. First recorded by him in 1962, with lyrics added by Norman Gimbel, the song became a major worldwide hit. He worked both as a bandleader and as a sideman, including many projects with composer/arranger Quincy Jones. Thielemans died in his sleep on 22 August 2016, at the age of 94.

 

Neil Cathcart Black OBE (born 28 May 1932 died 19th August 2016) was an English oboist. He has held the post of principal oboe in four London orchestras, and has taught at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Black was born in Birmingham. He starting playing the oboe at the age of 11, and played in the National Youth Orchestra between 1948 and 1951. He attended Oxford University between 1952 and 1956, and took a degree in history. In 1956–57 Black studied the oboe with Terence MacDonagh. From 1958 to 1960 he was principal oboist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Later in his career, he was the principal oboist of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the English Chamber Orchestra and the London Mozart Players. He is described by The Oxford Dictionary of Music as a "frequent soloist with chamber orchestras" and a "specialist in Baroque and pre‐classical repertoire". From 1960 to 1970 Black was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London. He later taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Black was appointed OBE in 1989. At 2013 he was musical director of the Kirckman Concert Society, which was formed in 1963 to promote young artists of exceptional talent.[Wikipedia]

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Alasdair Graham, has died aged 82, concert pianist

Alasdair Graham was a concert pianist who attracted favourable reviews in the 1950s and 1960s for his insightful interpretations of the classical repertoire; he played at the Proms, worked with conductors such as Malcolm Sargent and Charles Groves, and made a name for himself as a helpful and sympathetic accompanist to many debutante singers. The Scottish concert pianist's career was stalled by a nervous breakdown, he recovered to become a record producer and a much respected teacher at the Royal College of Music in London.

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Telegraph

Paul Robertson, Medici Quartet violinist – obituary

TELEGRAPH OBIT  Paul Robertson, the violinist, who has died aged 63, was for almost 40 years the leader of the Medici Quartet, one of the pre-eminent postwar British string quartets. The Medici String Quartet is widely regarded as one of Britain's leading international ensembles, having appeared to critical acclaim in over thirty countries across five continents. Alongside frequent radio performances, the group has an eclectic discography including recordings of the Beethoven Cycle of Quartets, the seldom heard Saint-Saëns Quartets and Wajahat Khan's Sarod Quintet Raag Desh. The Medici Quartet has been ensemble in residence at the University of Surrey since 1996, as well as having a strong link to the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

 VIDEO: Kirklees Creative Summit 2012 - Keynote: Professor Paul Robertson 

Patrice Beverly Munsel (May 14, 1925 – August 4, 2016) was an American coloratura soprano.

Munsel first sang at the Metropolitan at age 17, in March 1943. She made her official Metropolitan debut on December 4, 1943, at the age of 18, singing Philine in Mignon. Her first opera contract was for three years at $40,000 per year; with other appearances she was making around $100,000 annually. Perhaps best known for the role of Adele in Die Fledermaus, she performed 225 times at the Metropolitan. Sir Rudolf Bing called her a "superb soubrette" and implied that she was the world's best. Her opera roles included Rosina in The Barber of Seville and Despina in Cosi fan Tutte.

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 VIDEO: ''The Patrice Munsel Show'' - 31 January 1958 Patrice Munsel

Robert Page / Renowned choral conductor, musician and educator dies, age 89

For all of conductor Robert Page’s accolades, there may be no better example of his prowess in choral music than this: He improved a Robert Shaw choir. That would be the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. The illustrious Shaw had left a few years before Mr. Page took over in 1971, and he had to work to do to return it to its former glory. Four years later, he won a Grammy with the choir for a recording of Orff’s “Carmina Burana.” A titan of the choral scene in 20th-century America, after 18 years in Cleveland he was asked to rehabilitate a choir down the road: the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. From 1979-2005, he transformed that chorus into one of the finest in the country. Mr. Page, 89, of Oakland, died from a bone infection on Sunday, 8 AUG 2016. POST-GAZETTE

 VIDEO: Carnegie Mellon University School of Music

Pete Fountain, Jazz Pop Clarinetist 1930 - 2016

Pete Fountain, New Orleans jazz clarinetist who appeared on “The Lawrence Welk Show” and “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” has died. He was 86. Fountain died of heart failure on Saturday, 8 August 2016, in New Orleans, his son-in-law and manager Benny Harrell confirmed to the AP. 
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Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Jr. (July 3, 1930 – August 6, 2016), known professionally as Pete Fountain, was an American clarinetist based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He played easy listening, jazz, Dixieland, pop jazz, honky-tonk jazz, pop, and Creole music. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Pete Fountain - Crazy

Andre Hajdu 1932 - 2016, Hungarian born composer

Andre Hajdu was born on 5 March 1932 in Hungary. He studied at Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest with Endre Szervánszky and Ferenc Szabó (composition), Erno Szégedi (piano), and Zoltán Kodály (ethnomusicology). As a Kodály disciple, he was involved for two years in research about Gypsy musical culture and published several articles on this subject. After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Hajdu escaped to Paris and continued his studies at the Paris Conservatoire with Darius Milhaud (composition) and Olivier Messiaen (philosophy of music) obtaining the 1st prize in the discipline. Among his class mates were Gilbert Amy, William Bolcom, Philip Corner and Paul Mefano, to name just a few. In Paris he met a variety of stimulating people from the playwright Samuel Beckett to Prof. Israel Adler of the Hebrew University, who brought him on his first visit to Israel. WIKIPEDIA Andre Hajdu (Hungarian: Hajdú András; Hebrew: אנדרה היידו‎‎; 5 March 1932, Valea lui Mihai, Bihor – 1 August 2016, Tel Aviv, Israel) was a Hungarian-born Israeli composer and ethnomusicologist. VIDEO Ron Merhavi (double bass) and Andre Hajdu (piano) performing Andre Hajdu's Kaddish arranged by the composer for a solo double bass and piano "Make it Double" CD Launch IASA, Jerusalem 17 Feb 2011 השקת הדיסק "כלים שלובים" בתיכון הישראלי לאמנויות ירושלים, 17 בפברואר 2011

 

Hiroko Nakamura, Japanese pianist (July 25, 1944 – July 26, 2016)

Born Hiroko Fukuda in Yamanashi, she grew up in Tokyo. She began to study piano at the age of 3 at Toho Gakuen School of Music under Aiko Iguchi. In 1959, whilst a student at Chutobu Junior High School, she won first prize at the National Music Competition of Japan at age 15. In 1963, she began piano studied at the Juilliard School of Music, and studied under Rosina Lhévinne. In 1965, at the 7th International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition, she won 4th prize, the youngest prizewinner that year, and was the second Japanese prizewinner in the history of the Chopin Competition. WIKIPEDIA

Hiroko Nakamura, Japanese pianist (July 25, 1944 – July 26, 2016)

VIDEO: Hiroko Nakamura, Piano Evgeny Svetlanov, Conductor The State Symphony Orchestra of The U.S.S.R. Recorded at Moscow Conservatoire Hall Jan.25.1985

Einojuhani Rautavaara 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016...was a Finnish composer

Einojuhani Rautavaara (About this sound pronunciation (help·info); 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. He was one of the most notable Finnish composers after Jean Sibelius. Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. Having written early works using 12-tone serial techniques, his later music may be described as neo-romantic and mystical. Major works include Cantus Arcticus and Symphony No. 7 "Angel of Light". WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO...Rautavaara is a prolific composer with a career spanning seven decades. So far he has created ten operas, of which Thomas (1982-1985), Vincent (1986-1987) and Aleksis Kivi (1995-1996) are the best known. He has also produced eight symphonies and many concertos including the popular Cantus Arcticus; concerto for birds & orchestra (1972) and the double bass concerto Angel of Dusk (1980). Rautavaara has also written reams of choral, chamber and vocal music and a small amount of electronic music. Through working directly from his emotions and not hewing to party line serialism, Einojuhani Rautavaara has emerged, in the autumn of his life, as one the major figures in contemporary music worldwide.Symphony No.8 was composed in 1999. Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Mikko Franck.

Marni Nixon, the Voice Behind the Screen, Dies at 86

Ms. Nixon was the ghost singer for actresses in many of Hollywood’s most famous musicals, from “The King and I” to “West Side Story” to “My Fair Lady.” Marni Nixon (born February 22, 1930, died July 24, 2016) was an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals. She was most famous for dubbing the singing voices of the leading actresses in films, including The King and I, West Side Story, and My Fair Lady. Nixon's varied career included, besides her voice work in films, some film roles of her own, television, opera, concerts with major symphony orchestras around the world, musicals on stage throughout the United States and recordings. WIKIPEDIA NYTimes obit VIDEO

Gregg Smith (b. August 21, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois- D. July 12, 2016)

Gregg Smith, a choral conductor and composer whose ensemble, the Gregg Smith Singers, established new standards for professional choral singing and championed the work of contemporary American composers in performance and on recordings, died on Tuesday, 7 JUL 2016, in Bronxville, N.Y. He was 84. The cause was a heart attack, his wife, the soprano Rosalind Rees, said. Mr. Smith founded the Gregg Smith Singers in 1955. Gregg Smith, was one of the most prominent choral conductors in the United States. NYTimes obit GreggSmithSingers.com WIKIPEDIA VIDEO