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Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Mike Pedicin (October 24, 1917 – June 26, 2016) was an American jazz bandleader.

In the 1950s and 1960s, during the summer, Mike's band played at various night spots in Somers Point, NJ. Tony Marts & Bay Shores, the two most popular spots. His best-known record was "Shake a Hand" (Cameo Records, 1958), originally recorded by Faye Adams. PHILADELPHIA OBIT Philly.com Pedicin died 26 June 2016 at the age of 98.

  PHILADELPHIA BROADCAST PIONEERS

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Charles Chaynes (11 July 1925 – 24 June 2016) was a French composer.

Chaynes was born in Toulouse in 1925. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Darius Milhaud and Jean Rivier. In 1951 he won the Prix de Rome with the cantata Et l'homme se vit les portes rouvrir. During his stay at the Villa Medici in Rome he wrote the First Concerto for String Orchestra and the Ode for a Tragic Death. In 1956 he became a producer at the Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (RTF). In 1964 he succeeded Marius Constant as head of the channel France Musique. From 1975 to 1990 he headed the service de la création musicale at Radio France. In addition to several operas, one symphony and chamber works Chaynes composed numerous concertos, etc. for trumpet, violin, piano and organ, and two orchestral concerts. In 1966 he composed a concerto for organ, string orchestra, timpani and percussio for the organist Marie-Claire Alain. His Piano Concerto was premiered in 1967 by Yvonne Loriod. WIKIPEDIA

 VIDEO: Piano Concerto (1966) 

Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (21 November 1932 – 27 June 2016) was a Danish composer.


Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (21 November 1932 – 27 June 2016) was a Danish composer. Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was the son of the sculptor Jørgen Gudmundsen-Holmgreen. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, with Finn Høffding, Svend Westergaard, Bjørn Hjelmborg, and Vagn Holmboe (instrumentation), graduating in 1958 (Jakobsen 2001). He won the Nordic Council Music Prize in 1980 for his Symfoni/Antifoni. VIDEO: Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen - Trafik (1994) written for an ensemble of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 2 horns, trumpet, trombone, electric guitar, electric bass, harp and string quartet. It was commissioned by Copenhagen's Athelas Sinfonietta and I THINK they're the performers on this recording... The composer describes the piece as "a rough, monotonous, noisy, unruly, unappetizing soundpulp"! so... enjoy :)

Monday, June 27, 2016

Italian conductor Edoardo Muller passed away at the age of 78.

San Diego Opera says Italian conductor Edoardo Muller passed away June 25, 2016 at the age of 78. Edoardo Muller (or Müller) made his San Diego Opera debut in 1980, conducting the West Coast premiere of Giovanna d’Arco. Over the years he conducted over 30 San Diego Opera productions until ill-health forced his retirement in 2011. Trieste born, he made his way as assistant to Serafin, Gui, Votto, Böhm, Molinari-Pradelli, Abbado, Kleiber and Muti, getting his breakthrough jumping in for Georges Pretre in Rossini’s Mosè at the 1973 inauguration of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. - See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2016/06/us-opera-maestro-dies-aged-78/#sthash.GCZk9iw5.dpuf VIDEO Johann Strauß: Radetzky-Marsch AIMS Festival Orchestra Conductor: Edoardo Müller AIMS Meistersingerkonzert 2012 recorded in Graz, Austria, 16th of August 2012

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Harry Rabinowitz MBE (26 March 1916 - June 2016) was a British conductor and composer of film and television music.

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, he was the son of Israel Rabinowitz and Eva, née Kirkel. He was educated at the University of the Witwatersrand and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was conductor of the BBC Revue Orchestra (1953–60), music director for BBC Television Light Entertainment (1960–68), and head of music for London Weekend Television (1968–77). He conducted at the Hollywood Bowl (1983-84) and the Boston Pops Orchestra (1985-92) and with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He was the conductor at the Orchestra of St. Luke's Ismail Merchant and James Ivory 35th anniversary celebration at Carnegie Hall on 17 September 1996. Rabinowitz conducted the film scores for numerous films including Chariots of Fire (1981), Return to Oz (1985), The Remains of the Day (1993), The English Patient (1996), The Talented Mr. Ripley(1999), and Cold Mountain (2003). He also composed music for television including The Frost Report (1966), I, Claudius (1976), The Agatha Christie Hour (1982), and Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983). WIKIPEDIA VIDEO

Friday, June 17, 2016

Alberto Remedios, British Tenor

Alberto Remedios (27 February 1935 – 11 June 2016) was a British former operatic tenor, especially noted for his interpretations of Wagner's heldentenor roles. Remedios was born in Liverpool and began his working life as a docker, but studied singing with Edwin Francis, who also taught Rita Hunter, and then at the Royal College of Music under Clive Carey. He sang a wide variety of roles with the Sadler's Wells Opera—the forerunner of English National Opera—including Alfredo in La traviata, the title role in Gounod's Faust, Samson in Saint-Saëns' Samson and Delilah, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos and Max in Der Freischütz. He is especially remembered for his performances in Wagner.

  VIDEO

 

Friday, June 10, 2016

RIP: J. Reilly Lewis, 1944-2016... founding conductor of the Washington Bach Consort and the music director of the Cathedral Choral Society.




 J. Reilly Lewis (1944 – June 9, 2016) was the founding conductor of the Washington Bach Consort and the music director of the Cathedral Choral Society. As a keyboard artist he specialised in baroque music, particularly the music of J. S. Bach. His performing and conducting career included appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Handel Festival, Halle, the Bachfest Leipzig, the Aspen Music Festival, the Cologne New Music Festival and the Mozart Festival in New York and Washington. During a Chinese/American Festival in Taipei's main concert hall, he played the organ and later conducted the orchestra and chorus in various 20th century works including a world premiere by the Chinese composer Gordon Shi-Wen Chin. He made his National Symphony Orchestra debut in December 2002, guest conducting Handel's Messiah at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. WIKIPEDIA VIDEO

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Rolf Schweizer was a German composer, choirmaster and church music director, who was based primarily at Pforzheim.

Swiss... grew up in Mundingen, today a district of Emmendingen. He received his first musical training in wind music club of the village. He studied Protestant church music at the Church Music Institute Heidelberg u. a. with Wolfgang Fortner , Hermann Meinhard Poppen , Wolfgang Dallmann and Heinz Werner Zimmermann . From 1956 to 1966 he was cantor at St. John's Church in Mannheim . In 1966 he was District Kantor in Pforzheim , which he remained until his retirement. In 1969 he was appointed director of church music and cantor 1975 country of Mittelbaden. Swiss the title of professor in 1984 by the Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg (then Lothar Späth ) awarded. In his work as a choir, brass and orchestra conductor he was known far beyond the region. He also composed sacred songs, Trombones and children's choir music, as well as larger choral, orchestral and organ works. WIKIPEDIA

  VIDEO Psalm 150 - Rolf Schweizer *1936...2016 Aus einem Konzert des Bachchors Karlsruhe unter der Leitung von Christian-Markus Raiser vom 04.06.2011 in Gent/ Sint Niklaaskerk

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Joel Hastings (July 22, 1969 – May 26, 2016) was a Canadian pianist




Joel Hastings a faculty member at the Florida State University, College of Music. He was the winner of the 8th International Web Concert Hall Competition in 2006 and the 1993 International Bach Competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Hastings performed solo recitals across Canada and the United States, while his orchestral engagements included the Toronto Philharmonic, the Huntsville Festival Orchestra, and the Ann Arbor Concert Band. As a collaborative artist he toured internationally with vocal ensembles, performing in such venues as the Vatican and St. Paul's Cathedral. His recorded CDs include Sessions (2002), Liszt Transcending (2005), Chopin 24 Etudes (2005), and Songs and Dances (2008). His name became associated with the piano transcriptions of Franz Liszt and the music of French composer, Jean Roger-Ducasse.
 VIDEO Joel Hastings plays Malagueña from "Andalucía" (Suite Espanola) by Ernesto Lecuona. Ann Arbor MI 2009
 

Monday, June 6, 2016

Renowned soprano and longtime Tanglewood teacher Phyllis Curtin passes away at 94

Phyllis Curtin (December 3, 1921 – June 5, 2016) was an American classical soprano who had an active career in operas and concerts from the early 1950s through the 1980s. She was known for her creation of new roles such as the title role in the Carlisle Floyd opera Susannah, Catherine Earnshaw in Floyd's Wuthering Heights, and in other works by this composer. She was a dedicated song recitalist and retired from singing in 1984. She was named Boston University's Dean Emerita, College of Fine Arts in 1991. WIKIPEDIA

Friday, June 3, 2016

Jimmy Borges leaves a legacy of music — and aloha





Jimmy Borges, Hawaii’s gentleman of jazz, died May, 2016, at age 80, having faced his recurring cancer with the same gutsy attitude that propelled him from hardscrabble Kalihi to the glittering stages of Las Vegas. His velvety voice and charisma sustained him through 60 years on stage, but what struck listeners most is how the jazz singer spoke to them through song.HONOLULU ADVERTISER

 VIDEO Hawaii jazz legend Jimmy Borges shares a story about composer Kui Lee, then sings a beautiful medley of Kui Lee's classic song along with the mainland standard by Victor Schertzinger. This was recorded on 6/27/14 at the 7th Annual Red Clay Jazz Festival on Kauai. Jimmy was accompanied by Betty Lou Taylor on keyboards, Dean Taba on bass, and Noel Okimoto on drums. Unfortunately, due to the recorder battery running low, the last portion of the medley is missing a section.