MUSICIAN milestones

Dory Previn...(October 22, 1925 – February 14, 2012), American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet has died

2012-02-15T06:58:00.000-08:00

Ms. Previn, the lyricist for three Oscar-nominated songs, became famous for her own confessional albums in the early 1970s. During the late 1950s and 1960s she was a lyricist on songs intended for motion pictures and, with her first husband, André Previn, received several Academy Award nominations. In the 1970s, after their divorce, she released six albums of original songs and an acclaimed live album. Previn's lyrics from this period are characterized by their originality, irony and honesty in dealing with her troubled personal life as well as more generally about relationships, sexuality, religion and psychology. She continued to work until her death as a writer of song lyrics and prose.

Pop Diva Whitney Houston dead at 48

2012-02-11T21:29:00.000-08:00

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. Houston was the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records. Her list of awards includes 2 Emmy Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards as of 2010. Houston was also one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. Inspired by prominent soul singers in her family, including her mother Cissy Houston, cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick, and her godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing with New Jersey church's junior gospel choir at age 11. After she began performing alongside her mother in night clubs in the New York City area, she was discovered by Arista Records label head Clive Davis. Houston released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. On February 11, 2012, Houston was found dead in her guest room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, in Beverly Hills, California. On February 13th in 1993, Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You'' from the soundtrack to "The Bodyguard'' topped Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart for the 13th week. That ties "End of the Road'' from Boyz II Men as the longest-running No. 1 song of the rock era.

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Camilla Williams, Barrier-Breaking Opera Star, Dies at 92

2012-02-02T22:34:00.000-08:00

Camilla Ella Williams (October 18, 1919 – January 29, 2012) was an American operatic soprano, and the first African American to have received a contract with a major American opera company.

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Paavo Berglund, Finnish Conductor, Dies at 82

2012-02-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

Paavo Berglund, a Finnish conductor renowned for his commanding interpretations of Sibelius’s symphonies and tone poems, died on Jan. 25 at his home in Helsinki. He was 82.
Paavo Allan Engelbert Berglund (April 14, 1929 – January 25, 2012) was a Finnish conductor.
Born in Helsinki, Berglund studied the violin as a child, and played an instrument made by his grandfather. By age 15, he had decided on music as his career, and by 18 was playing in restaurants. He joined the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Finnish RSO) in 1949, unique among the instrumentalists in being accommodated for seating to account for the fact that he was left-handed.

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Composer/arranger/ pianist Dr. Clare Fischer has died

2012-01-27T08:22:00.000-08:00

Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University, he became the pianist and arranger for the vocal group The Hi-Lo’s in the late 1950s. Fischer went on to work with Dizzy Gillespie and Donald Byrd, and became known for his Latin and bossa nova recordings in the 1960s. He composed the jazz standard, "Pensativa". Fischer was nominated for eleven Grammy Awards, winning two for his albums, Clare Fischer and Salsa Picante Present 2+2 (1981) and Free Fall (1986), where he merged Latin and vocal music. Fischer also became an in-demand arranger for pop albums, working with Prince, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, Robert Palmer, and many others.

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Gustav Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012)

2012-01-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

Gustav Leonhardt was a highly renowned Dutch keyboard player, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. Leonhardt was a leading figure in the movement to perform music on period instruments. He played professionally the harpsichord, pipe organ, claviorganum (a combination of a harpsichord and an organ), clavichord and fortepiano.

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Alexis Weissenberg, Pianist, Dies at 82

2012-01-10T15:33:00.002-08:00

(July 26, 1929 – January 8, 2012)

Born into a Jewish family in Bulgaria, Sofia, Weissenberg began taking piano lessons at the age of three from Pancho Vladigerov. He gave his first public performance at the age of eight. After emigrating to what was then Palestine in 1945, where he studied under Leo Kestenberg, he went to the Juilliard School in 1946 to study with Olga Samaroff. He also consulted Artur Schnabel and Wanda Landowska. In 1947 he made his New York debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of George Szell playing Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. Between 1957 and 1966 he took an extended sabbatical for the purpose of studying and teaching. He resumed his career in 1966 by giving a recital in Paris; later that year he played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in Berlin conducted by Herbert von Karajan, who praised him as "one of the best pianists of our time".

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Robert Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 16, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer.

2011-12-17T01:58:00.000-08:00

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of Gerry Mulligan's quartet from 1954 to 1957. He later worked with Jimmy Giuffre before rejoining Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band. In the late 1950s he moved to New York City to work as a freelance arranger. In the 1960s he also worked as a studio musician, co-led a quintet with Clark Terry and worked in and wrote for the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. In 1980 this band recorded an album of his compositions/arrangements on which two tracks featured Clark Terry. After a period in Europe, he returned to the United States, where he continued to write and record. Bob Brookmeyer also taught jazz composition at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Soprano Montserrat Figueras has died in Spain, age 69

2011-11-27T18:38:00.000-08:00

Montserrat Figueras, the glamorous, powerfully emotive Catalan soprano who along with her husband, Jordi Savall, created ensembles that revitalized the performance of early music, died on Wednesday, 23 NOVEMBER 2011, at her home in Bellaterra, Spain. She was 69.

Montserrat Figueras García (Barcelona, 15 March 1942 – 23 November 2011) was a Catalan soprano who specialized in early music. Figueras was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, and began studying early singing techniques together with her sister Pilar Figueras in 1966 and developed an approach and technique for singing early music which combined historical fidelity with vitality.
In 1974 she and Jordi Savall, her husband since 1968, Lorenzo Alpert and Hopkinson Smith formed Hespèrion XX, an early music ensemble. Figueras and her husband were members of a newer version of that ensemble, Hespèrion XXI. They also founded the groups La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concert des Nations. Figueras also performed and recorded regularly as a solo artist. She and her husband performed with their children: daughter Arianna and son Ferran.
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Ladi Geisler (27 November, 1927 – 19 November, 2011)

2011-11-26T17:48:00.000-08:00

Ladislav "Ladi" Geisler (27 November, 1927 – 19 November, 2011) was a Czech musician who established a high profile in the post-war German music scene. Best known for his work with German pop musicians Bert Kaempfert, James Last and Freddy Quinn, Geisler developed the distinctive “Knack-Bass” percussive bass sound that helped popularize the Bert Kaempfert Orchestra. He later released numerous records under his own name.

Sena Jurinac, soprano died near Augsburg, Germany. She was 90.

2011-11-26T17:33:00.000-08:00

Sena Jurinac, whose creamy soprano and elegant, sincere musical style made her a favorite of opera fans and critics alike during a career spanning four decades, died on Tuesday, 22 November 2011, at her home near Augsburg, Germany. She was 90. Sena (Srebrenka) Jurinac ([juˈrinats] (24 October 1921 – 22 November 2011 was a Bosnian Croat/Austrian operatic soprano. Born in Travnik, Bosnia-Herzegovina, she studied at the Zagreb Academy of Music, and also with Milka Kostrenčić (whose other well-known pupil was Zinka Milanov).

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Composer Russ Garcia dies

2011-11-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

Composer Russ Garcia dies

Musical legend Russ Garcia – whose 70-year career in jazz and film saw him work with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Walt Disney and Clint Eastwood – has died at his home in Kerikeri, New Zealand aged 95.
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Russell Garcia, QSM (12 April 1916 – 20 November 2011) was a composer and arranger who wrote a wide variety of music for screen, stage and broadcast.
Garcia was born in Oakland, California, but was a long time resident of New Zealand. Self-taught, his break came when he substituted for an ill colleague on a radio show. Subsequently, he went on to become composer/arranger at NBC Studios for such televison shows as Rawhide 1962and Laredo, 1965-67, MGM and Universal Studios and films like the George Pal, MGM films, The Time Machine (1960) and Atlantis, the Lost Continent (1961), as well as his orchestrated themes for Father Goose (1964) and The Benny Goodman Story (1956). He collaborated with many musical and Hollywood stars - Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Anita O’Day, Mel Torme, Julie London, Oscar Peterson, Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson, Walt Disney, Orson Welles, Jane Wyman, Ronald Reagan, Andy Williams, Judy Garland, Henry Mancini, and Charlie Chaplin making arrangements and conducting orchestras as needed. Russ loved to ski so he would write on-site scores to ski-content films.

André Hodeir - January 22, 1921 – November 1, 2011

2011-11-11T17:36:00.000-08:00

André Hodeir (January 22, 1921 – November 1, 2011) was a French violinist, composer, arranger and musicologist. André Hodeir was born in Paris. His initial training was as a classical violinist and composer. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he took Olivier Messiaen's analysis class, and won first prizes in fugue, harmony, and music history. While pursuing these studies, he discovered jazz, and embarked on an exploration of all music forms, jazz as well as classical.

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Band leader Edmundo Ros, has died at the age of 100.

2011-10-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

Band leader Edmundo Ros, the man credited with popularising Latin American music in the UK, has died at the age of 100. His death was confirmed by showbusiness charity the Grand Order of Water Rats. Secretary John Adrian said: "He died last night peacefully at his home in Spain, two months short of his 101st birthday". Ros received an OBE for services to entertainment in the New Year Honours of 2000. Edmundo William Ros OBE (7 December 1910 – 21 October 2011) was a Trinidadian musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader who made his career in Britain.

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Ingvar Wixell Swedish baritone opera singer dies at age 80

2011-10-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

Ingvar Wixell was born in Luleå in 1931. He made his debut in 1955 as Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm where he was member of the company until 1967. He made his British debut during the Royal Swedish Opera's visit to Covent Garden in 1960, and sang Guglielmo at Glyndebourne and at the Proms in 1962. For the Royal Opera, London he sang Boccanegra in 1972. In America he appeared at San Francisco Opera (Belcore, 1972) and the Metropolitan Opera (Rigoletto, 1973). He was engaged at the Deutsche Oper Berlin 1967 where he was a member for more than 30 years. At Bayreuth he sang the Herald in Lohengrin (1971).
Among other roles, Wixell sang Figaro in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, Amonasro in Verdi's Aida, Baron Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca, and the title roles in Verdi's Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Verdi's Falstaff and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Wixell performed all the songs in the competition to select Sweden's Eurovision Song Contest 1965 entry. The winning song was "Annorstädes Vals" (Elsewhere Waltz), which Wixell went on to perform at the international final in Naples. In a break from the then prevailing tradition, the song was sung in English (as "Absent Friend"). This led to the introduction from 1966 onwards of a rule stipulating that each country's entry must be sung in one of the languages of that country. (This rule was cancelled for the years 1973 to 1977, reinstated in 1978, and cancelled again in 1999.)
Wixell ended his career in 2003 by singing the Music teacher in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at Malmö Opera. Wixell died on October 8, 2011, aged 80.

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Pete Rugolo dies at age 95

2011-10-19T09:27:00.002-07:00

Pete Rugolo, the chief arranger for the Stan Kenton Orchestra in its late-1940s heyday and a prolific composer and arranger for television and film, including the series “Richard Diamond, Private Detective,” “The Fugitive” and “Run for Your Life,” died on Sunday, 16 OCT 2011, in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He was 95. He was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily, Italy. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settled in Santa Rosa, California. He began his career in music playing the baritone horn, like his father, but he quickly branched out into other instruments, notably the French horn and the piano. He received a bachelor's degree from San Francisco State College, and then went on to study composition with Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland, California and earn his master's degree.
After he graduated, he was hired as an arranger and composer by guitarist and bandleader Johnny Richards. He spent World War II playing with altoist Paul Desmond in an army band.
After WWII, Rugolo worked for Stan Kenton, who headed one of the most musically 'progressive' big bands of the era. Rugolo provided arrangements and original compositions that drew on his knowledge of 20th century music, sometimes blurring the boundaries between jazz and classical music.
While Rugolo continued to work occasionally with Kenton in the 1950s, he spent more time creating arrangements for pop and jazz vocalists, including June Christy, Peggy Lee, the Four Freshmen, and Billy Eckstine, Nat King Cole, and Miles Davis. During this period he also worked for a while on film musicals at MGM, and served as an A&R director for Mercury Records in the late 1950s. Among his many albums were Adventures in Rhythm, Introducing Pete Rugolo, Rugolomania, Reeds in Hi-Fi and Music for Hi-Fi Bugs.

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Roger Williams, pianist 87

2011-10-08T17:33:00.000-07:00

Roger Williams, the pianist whose lush versions of familiar tunes like “Autumn Leaves” and “Born Free” became hit recordings in the 1950s and ’60s and who continued to perform in concerts into his 80s, died on Saturday,8 October, 2011 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 87.

Roger Williams (born Louis Weertz, October 1, 1924 – October 8, 2011) was an American popular music pianist. As of 2004, he had released 116 albums.

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Conductor Kurt Sanderling dies, 98

2011-09-19T21:35:00.000-07:00

Kurt Sanderling, an often acclaimed German-born conductor who spent most of his career in the Communist world after finding refuge from the Nazis there during World War II, died on Saturday, September 17, 2011 in Berlin. He was 98. Sanderling was born in Arys (Orzysz), East Prussia, to Jewish parents. After early work at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, he left for Russia in 1936, where he worked with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra. From 1942 to 1960 he was joint principal conductor with Yevgeny Mravinsky of the Leningrad Philharmonic. As a German refugee with a broad cultural outlook, he grew very close to Dmitri Shostakovich. Sanderling had conducted several major symphony orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who had asked Sanderling to be the permanent conductor of the orchestra, however, Sanderling's commitments made him refuse the offer.

Wikipedia

Italian tenor Salvatore Licitra dies in Sicily

2011-09-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

Salvatore Licitra, a tenor known in his Italian homeland as the "new Pavarotti" for his potent voice and considerable stamina, died Monday, 5 September 2011, at age 43 after spending nine days in a coma following a motorscooter accident in Sicily. On August 27, 2011, Licitra suffered severe head and chest injuries when his scooter crashed into a wall in Sicily. He remained in a coma for nine days in the Garibaldi Hospital in Catania and was pronounced clinically dead on September 5, 2011.

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Ross Barbour of The Four Freshmen has died

2011-08-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

Mr. Barbour died at 82 on Saturday, August 20, 2011, at his home in Simi Valley, CA. He was the last of the founding members of the Four Freshmen. The Four Freshmen had a fresh approach to close harmony, influencing the Beach Boys, the Mamas and the Papas, the Lettermen, the Manhattan Transfer and other groups. Their sound was characterized by long, lush chords — Mr. Barbour called them “purple chords” — and an improvisational style that made four voices seem like five or six. Each of the singers also played at least one instrument.

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Starlight Symphony conductor Cyril Ornadel, died on June 22 aged 86, wrote the score for the musical Pickwick

2011-08-17T15:08:00.000-07:00

Cyril Ornadel, for many years conducted the orchestra for Sunday Night at the London Palladium, the most popular television variety show of the 1950s. Ornadel had enjoyed an earlier hit song with Portrait of My Love. Recorded under duress by the balladeer Matt Monro, who disliked it intensely on first hearing, it went to No 3 in 1960, and has become a modern songbook standard. Cyril Ornadel was born in London on December 2 1924, the son of a dress manufacturer who assumed he would join the family business. When Cyril went his own way, his father effectively had him thrown out of the Royal College of Music by telling it that his son was in breach of the rules by playing piano in a nightclub and dating a fellow student. Ornadel recorded several MGM albums of standards with the studio orchestra known as The Starlight Symphony.

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Forvever Young and the Music of Victor Young
The Best of the British on Broadway

Jose-Luis Garcia, has died aged 67, a Spanish violinist and conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra.

2011-08-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

José-Luis Garcia was born in Madrid on February 25 1944, to a Catholic family steeped in music. He began studying the violin at the age of six with his father. After taking first prize in the Sarasate Competition in Pamplona, in 1960, he moved to London to take lessons with his compatriot Antonio Brosa at the Royal College of Music, where he took the Stoutzker Prize, the College’s main violin award.

Jose-Luis Garcia made his Proms debut, aged only 19, in Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Malcolm Sargent (his fellow soloists were Kenneth Sillito, Roy Malan and Ronald Thomas) For more than twenty years he was first violin-conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra, with which he led a very active artistic life and made important recordings, such as the Mozart concertos for violin and orchestra and Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.
In 1992 he joined the staff of the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía (Queen Sofía College of Music) and one year later acceded to the Chair of Violin.

José-Luis Garcia, who died on August 11, 2011 was a great jazz enthusiast, often retiring to Ronnie Scott’s after a London concert. His marriage to Joanna Milholland took place on the day that England won the World Cup in 1966, causing some disruption to the nuptial celebrations as guests endeavoured to keep abreast of the score. She survives him, as do a son and a daughter.

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Nikolai Petrov, a Top Soviet-Era Pianist, Dies at 68

2011-08-06T16:44:00.000-07:00

Nikolai Arnoldovich Petrov (14 April 1943 – 3 August 2011)

Petrov suffered a stroke in May while touring in Belarus and had been in the hospital since then.

Nikolai Arnoldovich Petrov was born on April 14, 1943, into a family of musicians. He started touring in the early 1960s and performed with the New York Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Symphony Orchestra and top European orchestras. He made his New York City debut at Carnegie Hall in 1965. But he always regarded the Moscow Conservatory as his main stage.

Petrov was born in Moscow, the son of the cellist Arnold Ferkelman and the grandson of the operatic bass Vasily Rodionovich Petrov, and began learning the piano at the age of three. At the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory his teacher was Tatyana Kestner and in 1961 Petrov entered the class of Yakov Zak at the Conservatory itself.[1][2] He subsequently won second prize at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas and won second prize at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels'

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Paul Franke, tenor, died age 93.

2011-08-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

Paul Franke, [photo, in makeup] a tenor who was one of the Metropolitan Opera’s most stalwart, ubiquitous and enduring performers, appearing there nearly 2,000 times in four decades, died on July 21, 2011 at his home in Queens. He was 93.

NYTIimes Obit

Amy Winehouse joins 'Club 27'

2011-07-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

The impetus for the club's creation were the deaths of Jones, Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison- all at the age of 27. Cobain, who died in 1994, was later added by some. Rocker Amy Winehouse has joined the group. With the exception of Joplin, there is controversy surrounding their deaths. According to the book Heavier Than Heaven, when Cobain died, his sister claimed that as a kid he would talk about how he wanted to join the 27 Club. On the fifteenth anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death, National Public Radio's Robert Smith said, "The deaths of these rock stars at the age of 27 really changed the way we look at rock music." The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll details the history of the phenomenon.

Pierrette Alarie-Simoneau, Canadian Soprano, Dies at 89

2011-07-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

Pierrette Alarie-Simoneau, an internationally known Canadian soprano who sang at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1940s, died on July 10, 2011 at her home in Victoria, British Columbia. She was 89. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Alarie was the daughter of a choirmaster, assistant conductor of the Société Canadienne d'opérettes, and of a soprano and actress. She studied voice and acting early and performed on radio at the age of 14, first as an actress and later as a singer of popular music. While studying voice with Victor Issaurel, she made her debut in 1938 at Les Variétés lyriques in the operetta The White Horse Inn. She also sang Marie in La fille du régiment and the lead role in Mireille. On a scholarship she went to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia to complete her studies with Elisabeth Schumann. Wikipedia

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Cornell MacNeil, American baritone, died He was 88.

2011-07-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

Cornell MacNeil, one of the great postwar American baritones, best known for his roles in Verdi operas, died on Friday, July 15, 2011, in Charlottesville, Va. He was 88. (From wikipedia -
He debuted with various companies in the United States from 1953 (including the New York City Opera) and at La Scala and the Metropolitan in 1959. In 1969 he became president of the American Guild of Musical Artists.MacNeil's voice was notable for its huge size and volcanic top notes. Despite some vocal decline in the late 1970s, he maintained a high standard throughout his long career. Two of his most notable roles were the title role in Rigoletto, and Iago in Otello. MacNeil was a regular at the Metropolitan Opera.His debut was on March 21, 1959, as Rigoletto. Rigoletto was also the role he sang the most at the Met, 104 times, including the Met's first telecast of that opera in 1977, in the production by John Dexter. MacNeil was also well-known for the role of Baron Scarpia in Tosca, a role he sang 92 times at the Met between November 2, 1959 and December 5, 1987, which was his last performance with the Met.

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Josef Suk

2011-07-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

Josef Suk, a Czech violinist who was known for his warm-toned interpretations of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy and Janacek as well as for his lineage — he was a great-grandson of Dvorak and a grandson of the turn-of-the-century violinist and composer also named Josef Suk — died on Wednesday. He was 81. Josef Suk (8 August 1929 – 6 July 2011) was a Czech violinist, violist, chamber musician and conductor, the grandson of Josef Suk, the composer and violinist. In his home country he carried the title of National Artist.

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Vincenzo La Scola

2011-06-28T17:54:00.000-07:00

Vincenzo La Scola, who has died aged 53, was a powerful Italian operatic tenor, spoken of – by record labels, at least – in the same breath as his mentor Luciano Pavarotti, and his compatriots Enrico Caruso and Carlo Bergonzi. Vincenzo La Scola (25 January 1958 – 15 April 2011) had a successful international opera career and theatrical career for more than 25 years. He was particularly admired for his portrayals in operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini. He also achieved success as a crossover artist, particularly in his many collaborations with singer-songwriter Cliff Richard and for his solo crossover album for EMI, Vita Mia (1999). In 2000 he was made a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and from 2004 until his sudden death in 2011 he served as principal teacher and artistic director of the Accademia Verdi Toscanini in Parma.

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Marguerite Wolff

2011-06-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

Marguerite Wolff was one of the most distinguished concert pianists of her generation. She was best known for her elegant interpretations of Chopin and Liszt over the course of a glittering career that spanned eight decades. Marguerite Wolff, died on May 25 2001, aged 92. She was a British-born pianist who also championed the music of Sir Arthur Bliss and Sir Malcolm.

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FRED STEINER, 88

2011-06-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

Steiner created 'Perry Mason' theme and also crafted music for 'Gunsmoke,' 'The Twilight Zone,' 'Star Trek,' 'Have Gun, Will Travel,' 'Rawhide,' 'Hogan's Heroes,' 'The Bullwinkle Show' and other TV series.
Steiner died of natural causes Thursday 23 June 2011 at his home in the town of Ajijic in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Frederick Steiner was born Feb. 24, 1923, in New York City, the son of violinist, composer and arranger George Steiner. He began playing the piano at 6 and took up the cello at 13. He received a scholarship to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, where he studied with composer Normand Lockwood.

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Ray Bryant pianist and composer dies

2011-06-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

Raphael Homer "Ray" Bryant (December 24, 1931 – June 2, 2011) was an American Jazz pianist and composer. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ray Bryant began playing the piano at the age of six, also performing on bass in junior High School. Turning professional before his age of majority, Bryant accompanied many other leading players such as Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Melba Liston, and Coleman Hawkins, as well as singers Carmen McRae and Aretha Franklin. From the late 1950s, he led a trio, performing throughout the world, and also worked solo. In addition, he was a noted Jazz composer, with well-known themes such as "Cubano Chant," "The Madison Time," "Monkey Business," and "Little Susie" to his credit.
The musicians Kevin Eubanks, Duane Eubanks, and Robin Eubanks are his nephews. His brothers are the bass player Tommy Bryant (May 21, 1930 – March 1, 1982) and Len Bryant, who plays drums and is also a singer. His niece Jennifer Bryant who is also Len Bryant's daughter is a singer songwriter and producer.
Both Tommy and Ray Bryant formed a trio with Oz Perkins as the back-up band for the off-Broadway run of the comedy show Cambridge Circus, at Square East in 1964. The show starred John Cleese, Bill Oddie, Tim Brooke-Taylor, David Hatch, Jo Kendall, Graham Chapman, Jonathan Lynn, and Jean Hart.

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BOB FLANIGAN founded Four Freshmen group

2011-05-16T18:45:00.000-07:00

Bob Flanigan (August 22, 1926 – May 15, 2011), was an American tenor vocalist and founding member of The Four Freshmen, a jazz vocal group.
Flanigan, who was born in Greencastle, Indiana, was a respected trombonist, and also played bass guitar with the outfit for several decades, beginning on September 20, 1948, and sang the top part.
After retiring from performing in 1992, Flanigan maintained the band's name and was responsible for the group's changing cast of performers.
Flanigan died of congestive heart failure at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 15, 2011.[1][2] He was 84.

Bernard Greenhouse

2011-05-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

The acclaimed cellist was a founding member of the renowned Beaux Arts Trio. Bernard Greenhouse died Friday, 13 May 2011 at his home on Cape Cod. He was 95. Greenhouse was born in Newark, N.J., and began playing cello at age 8. As a teenager, he was admitted to what was then known as the Juilliard Graduate School in New York City. He began his career as a soloist in the mid-20th century, but it was a time when concert presenters rarely booked solo cellists, according to The New York Times. In 1955, he founded the Beaux Arts with violinist Daniel Guilet and pianist Menahem Pressler.

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Wikipedia Bio

Norma Zimmer

2011-05-13T23:09:00.000-07:00

Known as one of the "Champagne Ladies" of "The Lawrence Welk Orchestra" and a studio singer who worked with Frank Sinatra and other pop stars, has died. She was 87.
Zimmer died peacefully Tuesday at her Brea, Calif., home, Welk's son, Larry, said Wednesday. Larry Welk didn't know the cause of death but said Zimmer had been living an active life in recent years. Born as Norma Larsen on a dairy farm in Larson, Idaho, she grew up in Seattle after her father moved the family west. She was singing in a church choir when a guest artist suggested she travel to Los Angeles and audition for a musical group. When she turned 18, she did just that. In 1944 she married Randy Zimmer.
She sang with a succession of top vocal groups — the Norman Luboff Choir, the Pete King Chorale, and the Ken Darby Singers among them — and she appeared on most of the popular television variety shows during the 1950s.

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Peter Lieberson

2011-05-03T04:40:00.000-07:00

American composer Peter Lieberson, who wrote his most inspired songs for his great love, the late mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, has died at age 64. Lieberson died Saturday 2 May 20011 at a hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel, of complications from lymphoma. The New York-born composer, who lived in Santa Fe, N.M., was in Israel for medical treatment. He had been diagnosed with the cancer while still mourning his wife's 2006 death of breast cancer.
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Mexican composer Daniel Catán has died age 62

2011-04-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Catán was working on a new opera in Austin, Texas, a University of Texas spokeswoman said Monday. Catan was best known in the United States for his operatic adaptation of the Italian film "Il Postino," which is sung in Spanish. The Los Angeles Opera premiered "Il Postino" last year with Placido Domingo playing the poet Pablo Neruda and tenor Charles Castronovo as the wide-eyed postman Mario Ruoppolo. Born in Mexico City, he studied philosophy at the University of Sussex and music at the University of Southampton. He received a Ph.D. from Princeton University, where he studied with Milton Babbitt, James K.Randall, and Benjamin Boretz. Catán was the first Mexican composer to have an opera produced in the United States, when San Diego Opera produced his Rappaccini's Daughter in March, 1994. He has also composed orchestral and chamber works and film music. His style can be described as neo-impressionist. His music is richly lyrical, often painting evocative colours with the orchestral palette with soaring melodies atop.

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Classical guitarist Rolando Valdes-Blain has passed away.

2011-04-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

New York City: ROLANDO VALDES-BLAIN spent his life performing for audiences from Broadway to the White House. He died at home saturady April 2, 2011, at the age of 89. Valdes-Blain was born in Cuba and came to New York City in his youth. In the 1930s he and his brother Alberto had a weekly music show on New York City radio station WNYC. After military service in World War II he performed with the Spanish Ballet and appeared in Tennessee Williams' Broadway play "Camino Real." He also composed the music for the play "Bullfight." In 1955 Valdes-Blain was a soloist with the Radio City Music Hall orchestra. He founded the Guitar Department at the Manhattan School of Music. In 1968 he performed at the White House.

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Welsh tenor Robert Tear has died in London. He was 72.

2011-03-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

Versatile Welsh tenor Robert Tear, who appeared on more than 250 recordings, has died in a London hospice. He was 72.

Robert Tear, CBE (8 March 1939 – 29 March 2011) was a Welsh tenor and conductor.
Tear was born in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales, UK. He attended Barry Boys' Grammar School and was a choral scholar at King's College, Cambridge, where he studied under Kimbell. He was later elected an Honorary Fellow of the College. His operatic début was in 1966 as Peter Quint in Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw on the English Opera Group's tour of England and Russia. In 1970 he made his début at Covent Garden as Lensky in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. He made his début as a conductor in 1985 in Minneapolis.
Tear was closely associated with the music of British composers Benjamin Britten and Michael Tippett. He created the role of Dov in Tippett's opera The Knot Garden. During the 1989-90 season, he made a highly successful debut with the Glyndebourne Touring Company as the tormented Aschenbach in Britten's Death in Venice. He was well-known for his duets with Benjamin Luxon, reviving many Victorian parlour songs.
Tear was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (Coleg Brenhinol Cerdd a Drama Cymru). In 1984, he was awarded the CBE. He was married with two daughters and lived in West London. Tear's death was announced on 29 March 2011.

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JOHNNY PEARSON

2011-03-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

Death of Johnny Pearson "Sleepy Shores hit":

Composer, pianist and arranger was one of the foremost names in music for British television programmes. Among his numerous credits are the themes for 3-2-1, Owen MD, All Creatures Great And Small and News At Ten and he also served for 16 years as the arranger and conductor for Top Of The Pops. Johnny Pearson was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire in 1925 and he studied the piano as a child and won a scholarship to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He wanted to continue his studies but the family had little money and he became an engineering apprentice. He did his national service in the Royal Artillery and he played drums in an army band. His "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" [1965] was a Christmas hit and although it only climbed to No 5, it was on the charts for four months. It made the USTop 10 and was more successful than the American original. Pearsonhad only been paid an £8 session fee for the record, and after being promised better terms, Sounds Orchestral had further chart singles with "Moonglow" in the UK and "Canadian Sunset" in the US. John Valmore Pearson, pianist, composer and arranger: born Chesterfield, Derbyshire, 18 June 1925; married; died 20 March 2011.

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Ferlin Husky...85

2011-03-18T03:47:00.000-07:00

Ferlin Husky, a pioneering country music entertainer in the 1950s and early '60s known for hits like "Wings of a Dove" and "Gone," died Thursday. He was 85.

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GEORGE SHEARING dies...91

2011-02-14T17:33:00.000-08:00

George Shearing, the ebullient jazz pianist who wrote the standard "Lullaby of Birdland" and had a string of hits both with and without his quintet, has died. He was 91. Shearing, blind since birth, died early Monday morning, 14 FEB 2011, in Manhattan of congestive heart failure.

WIKIPEDIA: Sir George Shearing, OBE (August 13, 1919 – February 14, 2011) was an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group which recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s. He became known for a piano technique known as Shearing's voicing, a type of double melody block chord, with an additional fifth part that doubles the melody an octave lower. George Shearing credited the Glenn Miller Orchestra's reed section of the late 1930s and early 1940s as an important influence. Shearing's interest in classical music resulted in some performances with concert orchestras in the 1950s and 1960s, and his solos frequently drew upon the music of Satie, Delius and Debussy for inspiration.
He died of heart failure in February 2011 in New York City, at the age of 91.

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Johannes Somary

2011-02-09T07:04:00.000-08:00

Johannes Somary, the founder and music director of Amor Artis, a chorus and orchestra that for the last half-century has presented neglected choral masterpieces, primarily from the Baroque and Classical periods, died on Feb. 1 in the Bronx. He was 75 and lived in Riverdale, N Y.
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5-time Oscar-winner composer John Barry dies at 77

2011-01-31T08:26:00.000-08:00

John Barry, who wrote music for a dozen James Bond films, including "You Only Live Twice" and "Goldfinger" and developed the twanging guitar riff in the suave spy's theme music, has died. He was 77. The English-born composer wrote a long list of scores, including "Somewhere In Time", "Midnight Cowboy," "Dances with Wolves" and "Body Heat." He was proud of writing both for big action blockbusters and smaller films. He won two Oscars for "Born Free" in 1966, for best score and best song. He also earned statuettes for the scores to "The Lion in Winter" (1968), "Out of Africa" (1985) and "Dances with Wolves" (1990).
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Margaret Whiting

2011-01-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

Margaret Whiting (July 22, 1924 — January 10, 2011) was a singer of American popular music and country music who first made her reputation during the 1940s and 1950s. She was born in Detroit and her family moved to Los Angeles in 1929. The sweet-voiced big band singer of sentimental ballads such as "Moonlight in Vermont" and "It Might As Well Be Spring" died in New Jersey. Margaret Whiting was 86. Whiting sold millions of records in the 1940s and '50s. She died Monday, 11 January 2011, at an entertainers retirement home in Englewood, N.J. She had lived in New York City for many years before moving to the home in March. Whiting grew up with the music business. She was the daughter of Richard Whiting, a prolific composer of such hits as "My Ideal," "Sleepy Time Gal" and "Beyond the Blue Horizon." Her family's California home was a gathering place for such songwriters as George and Ira Gershwin, Frank Loesser, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer.

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Billy Taylor, age 89

2010-12-29T18:50:00.000-08:00

Billy Taylor, an acclaimed jazz pianist and composer who became one of the genre's most ardent advocates through radio, television and the landmark Jazzmobile arts venture, has died at age 89.

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JOHN ALLDIS, choir director, dies at age 81

2010-12-23T10:06:00.000-08:00

John Alldis, choir conductor has died at the age of 81 of pneumonia. He founded the professional, 16-voice John Alldis Choir in 1962 and made an early mark with the world premiere performance of Alexander Goehr's "A Little Cantata for Proverbs." Alldis died Monday, 20 December 2010. Subsequent recordings, mainly for Argo, tackled modern composers including Malcolm Williams, Harrison Birtwistle and Richard Rodney Bennett, but the choir repertoire reached back as far as the Renaissance. Choir members who later established solo careers including Philip Langridge, John Shirley-Quirk and Ian Partridge. The Alldis Choir worked with Pink Floyd on the "Atom Heart Mother" album in 1970, and in 1973 on a recording of Ellington's "Third Sacred Concert."
Alldis worked with choral ensembles for the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic, and taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1966 to 1977. He conducted the American Choral Symposium in Manhattan, Kansas, from 1978 to 1987, and was permanent guest conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Choir from 1985 to 1998.

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Soprano Helen Boatwright dies at 94

2010-12-02T11:47:00.001-08:00

Born: November 17, 1916 - Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA, died in upstate New York at 94, 2 DEC 2010.

The American American soprano and teacher, Helen Boatwright (née Strassburger), grew up in Sheboygan, Wisconsin during the Depression. She began her training with Anna Shram Irving. Later she studied voice with Professor Marion Sims (1892-1980) at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (Ohio), receiving the bachelor degree in music in 1939 and the master's degree in music in 1943.

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Peter Hofman dies at 66

2010-11-30T10:35:00.000-08:00

German tenor Peter Hofmann, who became famous for his performances of Richard Wagner operas, died Tuesday, 29 November 2010. He died at a hospital in Wunsiedel in Bavaria. The mass-circulation newspaper Bild also reported Hofmann's death after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Hofmann made his name performing at the annual Bayreuth festival celebrating the music of Richard Wagner. He toured stages across the world, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

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Buddy Morrow

2010-11-18T21:27:00.000-08:00

Buddy Morrow (born Muni Zudekoff, aka Moe Zudekoff; February 8, 1919, New Haven, Connecticut – September 27, 2010) was an American trombonist and bandleader. He is known for his mastery of the upper range which is evident in records such as "The Golden Trombone," as well as his ballad playing. Morrow was once a member of The Tonight Show Band. His early 1950s records such as "Rose, Rose, I Love You" and "Night Train" appeared in the US Billboard charts. "Night Train" reached #23 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1953. He was most recently the leader of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, through September 24, 2010. Morrow died in the morning on September 27, 2010.

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Henryk Gorecki has died at the age of 76

2010-11-12T11:34:00.001-08:00

Polish composer Henryk Gorecki has died at the age of 76. He was best known for his Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, which was composed in 1976 and sold more than a million copies following a 1992 re-release. Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (Polish pronunciation: [ˈxɛnrɨk mʲiˈkɔwaj ɡuˈrɛtski]) (December 6, 1933 – November 12, 2010) was a composer of contemporary classical music. He studied at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice between 1955 and 1960. In 1968, he joined the faculty and rose to provost before resigning in 1979. Górecki became a leading figure of the Polish avant-garde during the post-Stalin cultural thaw.

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Shirley Verrett, died Friday 5 NOV 2010 at 79.

2010-11-06T04:35:00.000-07:00

Shirley Verrett, an acclaimed American mezzo-soprano and soprano praised for her blazing intensity during a career that spanned four decades, died in Ann Arbor, Mich. She was 79.

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Shirley Verrett (May 31, 1931 – November 5, 2010 was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles i.e. soprano sfogato. Verrett enjoyed great fame from the late 1960s through the 1990s and was much admired for her radiant voice, beauty, and great versatility. She was particularly well known for her singing in French and Italian opera, particularly works of Verdi and Donizetti. More Wikipedia Bio

Jerry Bock, dies. He was 81.

2010-11-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

Bock composed some of the most memorable shows in Broadway history, including the melodies for "Fiorello!" and "Fiddler on the Roof,".

Jerrold Lewis "Jerry" Bock (November 23, 1928 – November 3, 2010[1]) was an American musical theatre composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical Fiorello! and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the 1965 musical Fiddler on the Roof with Harnick.

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JOAN SUTHERLAND

2010-10-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

Soprano Joan Sutherland, whose purity of tone and brilliant vocal display made her one of the most celebrated opera singers of all time, has died at 83 after a four-decade career that won her praise as the successor to legend Maria Callas. Her family said she died Sunday 10 OCT 2010, at her home near Geneva after a long illness.

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Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution in the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s. She died in Switzerland on 10 October 2010. One of the most remarkable female opera singers of the 20th century, she was dubbed La Stupenda by a La Fenice audience in 1960 after a performance as Alcina. She possessed a voice of beauty and power, combining extraordinary agility, accurate intonation, "pin point staccatos, a splendid trill and a tremendous upper register, although music critics often complained about the imprecision of her diction. Her friend Luciano Pavarotti once called Sutherland the "Voice of the Century", while Montserrat Caballé described the Australian's voice as being like "heaven". Her highest note was a high F sharp in altissimo....(Wikipedia Bio)

Singer Dolores Wilson has died in New Jersey at age 82

2010-10-06T02:59:00.000-07:00

Metropolitan Opera soprano and Broadway singer Dolores Wilson died 28 SEP 2010. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1954 in the title role of "Lucia di Lammermoor," the first of what would be 26 appearances, including seven with its touring company.

NY Times obit

Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010)

2010-09-24T02:29:00.000-07:00

Eddie Fisher, whose huge fame as a pop singer was overshadowed by scandals ending his marriages to Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, has died. He was 82. It was known at an early age that he had talent as a vocalist and he started singing in numerous amateur contests, which he usually won. He made his radio debut on WFIL, a local Philadelphia radio station. He sang and acted on the 15 minute 6PM radio series "The Magic Lady". He later performed on "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts", a popular radio show which later moved to TV. By 1946, Fisher was crooning with the bands of Buddy Morrow and Charlie Ventura. He was heard in 1949 by Eddie Cantor at Grossinger's Resort in the Borscht Belt. After performing on Cantor's radio show he was an instant hit and gained nationwide exposure. He then signed with RCA Victor.

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Geoffrey Burgon (15 July 1941 – 21 September 2010)

2010-09-23T03:03:00.000-07:00

Geoffrey Burgon, the British composer whose soundtrack for the television production of "Brideshead Revisited" became a hit recording, has died at age 69, his publisher said.
Burgon also contributed to Monty Python's "Life of Brian" and produced music for "Dr. Who," "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," "The Chronicles of Narnia" and other productions.
Burgon died Tuesday, 21 SEP 2010, after a short illness. Burgon's score for the television adaptation of "Brideshead" sold 100,000 copies.

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László Polgár (January 1, 1947 – September 19, 2010)

2010-09-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

Born in Budapest, Hungary, operatic bass László Polgár studied with Eva Kutrucz at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, 1967–72, and later privately with Hans Hotter and Yevgeny Nesterenko. He made his debut at the Hungarian State Opera in 1971, as Count Ceprano in Rigoletto.
His international career took off in 1981, when he sang Rodolfo in La sonnambula at the Royal Opera House in London. He became a regular guest at the Vienna State Opera in 1983, at the Munich State Opera and the Opéra de Paris from 1985, he has also appeared in Hamburg, and at the festivals of Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence. From 1992 until 2008 he was a principal solo bass of the Zurich Opera House. He died in Zürich at age 63, September 19, 2010. more Wikipedia Biography

George David Weiss

2010-08-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

George David Weiss (April 9, 1921, New York City, New York – August 23, 2010) was an American songwriter and former President of the Songwriters Guild of America. BIO

SONGS...
"What a Wonderful World" (1968) - co-written by Bob Thiele
"Let's Put It All Together" - co-written by Luigi Creatore and Hugo Peretti
"Can't Help Falling in Love with You" (1962) - co-written by Luigi Creatore and Hugo Peretti
"That Sunday, That Summer" (1963) - co-written by Joe Sherman
"Mr. Wonderful" (1955) - co-written by Jerry Bock and Lawrence Holofcener
"Lullaby of Birdland" (1952) - under the pseudonym "B. Y. Forster", with music by George Shearing
"Stay With Me" (1966) - co-written by Jerry Ragovoy

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What a Wonderful World (Jean Karl Books)

The Lion Sleeps Tonight CD Choir Lyrics and revised music by George David Weiss, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore / arr. Jeff Funk

Singer Abbey Lincoln dies at age 80

2010-08-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

Abbey Lincoln, a singer whose dramatic vocal command and tersely poetic songs made her a singular figure in jazz, died on Saturday 14 August 2010, in Manhattan. She was 80.

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MITCH MILLER DEAD AT 99

2010-08-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Mitch Miller, the goateed orchestra leader who asked Americans to "Sing Along With Mitch" on television and records and produced hits for Tony Bennett, Patti Page and other performers, has died at age 99.

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Sir Charles Mackerras

2010-07-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

Sir Charles Mackerras, classical music conductor acknowledged as the leading exponent of Leos Janacek's operas, has died of cancer. He was 84. Mackerras died Wednesday night 14 July 2010 in London

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Mackerras

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Cesare Siepi - February 10, 1923 – July 5, 2010

2010-07-07T04:27:00.000-07:00

Cesare Siepi

,

The operatic bass fled Fascist Italy and later rose to fame both as a staple of the Metropolitan Opera and one of the most celebrated singers to play the title role in "Don Giovanni".
He died in Atlanta at age 87 on July 5, 2010.

WIKI BIO

Jimmy Dean (August 10, 1928 – June 13, 2010)

2010-06-14T02:38:00.000-07:00

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Jimmy Ray Dean (August 10, 1928 – June 13, 2010) was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean Sausage brand, he first rose to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad John"; and became a national television personality in the 1960s. His acting career included a supporting role in the 1971 James Bond movie, Diamonds Are Forever. He lived near Richmond, Virginia, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010. Dean died on June 13, 2010, of natural causes at his Varina, Virginia home at the age of 81. He is survived by his second wife Donna.

BIO

Lena Horne, Jazz Singer Who Broke Color Barriers, Dies at 92

2010-05-10T02:09:00.000-07:00

Lena Horne, the jazz singer who broke color barriers in Hollywood and fought for civil rights during a seven-decade career that took her from the Cotton Club in Harlem to Hollywood and the Broadway stage, has died. She was 92. She died Sunday 9 MAY 2010 at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center,

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London Jazz & Video

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Giulietta Simionato

2010-05-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

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Giulietta Simionato, an Italian mezzo-soprano whose instantly recognizable voice was wildly popular with audiences, died May 5, 2010 in Rome. She would have turned 100 on May 12.

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Jazz guitarist Herb Ellis dies at 88

2010-03-30T04:40:00.000-07:00

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Renowned jazz guitarist Herb Ellis, 88, died at his home in Los Angeles on March 28. He had Alzheimer's disease. The death was confirmed by his son, Mitchell Ellis. Mr. Ellis was a member during the 1950s of the Oscar Peterson trio, which served as the house recording band for Verve Records and accompanied a who's-who of jazz greats, including Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Harry "Sweets" Edison and Ben Webster. It has been said that in Herb Ellis, virtuoso jazz pianist Peterson found his truest musical peer.

WIKI BIO

Blanche Thebom (September 19, 1918 – March 23, 2010)

2010-03-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

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Blanche Thebom, a mezzo-soprano who sang more than 350 performances with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, has died at age 94. From the 1944 to 1967, Thebom was a star of the Met, part of a wave of American opera singers to gain international fame. She was best known for her Wagner performances, including roles as Brangaene in "Tristan and Isolde" and Fricka in "Die Walkuere."

OBIT

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Kathryn Grayson film soprano dies at 88

2010-02-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

Kathryn Grayson, whose beauty and lilting soprano voice brightened such popular MGM musicals of the 1940s and '50s as "Anchors Aweigh," "Show Boat" and "Kiss Me Kate," has died. She was 88. MORE in Wiki Bio
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Art Van Damme

2010-02-20T06:55:00.000-08:00

Art Van Damme (April 9, 1920 in Norway, Michigan – February 15, 2010) was a jazz accordionist who had many popular albums for Columbia Records in the mid 20th Century. In the Wikipedia bio it is noted he began playing the accordion at age nine and started classical study when his family moved to Chicago in 1934. In 1941 he joined Ben Bernie's band as an accordionist. He adapted Benny Goodman's music to the accordion. From 1945 to 1960 he worked for NBC, performing on The Dinah Shore Show, Tonight, The Dave Garroway Show and other radio and TV shows with Garroway. He recorded 130 episodes of the 15-minute The Art Van Damme Show for NBC Radio. MORE
Tribute Compilation
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Irina Konstantinovna Arkhipova

2010-02-16T11:00:00.000-08:00

(Russian: Ирина Константиновна Архипова) (2 January 1925 – 11 February 2010) was a Russian mezzo-soprano, and later contralto, opera singer. She sang leading roles first in Russia at the Sverdlovsk Opera and the Bolshoi Theater, and then throughout Europe and in the United States.

Before switching to voice, she studied architecture. She studied at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1954 she debuted in Sverdlovsk, and was made a member of the Bolshoi Theatre in 1956. She was named a People's Artist of the USSR ten years later.

Arkhipova was at the height of her career in the 1960s and 1970s, during which time she was an international star, interpreting both Russian and Italian repertoire. Her technique was irreproachable, and she had great expressive power. She has been compared with Christa Ludwig. One of her most celebrated roles is as Marfa in Khovanshchina by Modest Mussorgsky, as recorded with Boris Khaikin in 1972.

She died in Moscow on 11 February 2010, aged 85.[1]

Johnny Dankworth

2010-02-16T10:56:00.000-08:00

Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist. He was the husband of jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, who survives him; they married in 1958.

King Sister Yvonne Burch dies at 89

2009-12-17T05:51:00.000-08:00

Yvonne King Burch, who gained early fame as one of the singing King Sisters during the big band era before launching her entire extended musical clan into show business as the King Family, has died. She was 89.

OBIT

The King Sisters

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Leon Kirchner, serious composer (1919-2009)

2009-12-10T03:51:00.000-08:00

Leon Kirchner (January 24, 1919 – September 17, 2009) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. G. Schirmer, Inc./Associated Music Publishers and the Music Sales Group are saddened to announce the passing of Leon Kirchner.

Leon Kirchner has made an indelible mark on contemporary music through his own remarkable style — in his words, "an artist must create a personal cosmos, a verdant world...powered by conviction and necessity." Like Arnold Schoenberg, his mentor, Kirchner weaved the past and the present, creating music that masterfully conveys our contemporary world.

Wikipedia Bio

SCHIRMER SITE OBIT

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The Four Aces, Al Alberts, dies at 87

2009-11-27T14:06:00.000-08:00

Al Alberts, a founding member of the singing group, The Four Aces, and a longtime TV talent show host in Philadelphia, has died. He was 87.
Chris Alberts says his father died Friday at home in Arcadia, Fla. He says the apparent cause of death was complications from kidney failure.
Alberts featured child singers and dancers on his "Al Alberts Showcase" for more than three decades in Philadelphia.
He was a founding member of The Four Aces, which recorded such hits as "Three Coins in the Fountain," and "Love is a Many Splendored Thing."

Official Website

Wikipedia Bio

Available Books & Recordings

Haydn expert H.C. Robbins Landon dies at 83

2009-11-25T10:38:00.000-08:00

LONDON - H.C. Robbins Landon, a musicologist noted for his pioneering research on Franz Joseph Haydn and for writing popular works on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, has died at age 83. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and studied music at Swarthmore College and Boston University. He subsequently moved to Europe where he worked as a music critic. From 1947 he undertook research in Vienna on Joseph Haydn, a composer on whom he became an authority. His book Symphonies of Joseph Haydn was published in 1955, and the five volume Haydn: Chronicle and Works followed at the end of the 1970s. He also edited a number of Haydn's works.
Robbins Landon published work on other 18th century composers, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Antonio Vivaldi. He coined the term barococo. In 1994 a controversy erupted over the appearance of various piano sonatas which Robbins Landon at first declared to be newly discovered Haydn works, but then concluded were fakes. He died on November 20, 2009 in Rabastens, France....wikipedia.

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Elisabeth Soderstrom

2009-11-20T12:59:00.001-08:00

Swedish soprano Elisabeth Soderstrom, an international opera star, has died in Stockholm early Friday 20 NOV 2009 of complications from a stroke.
Soderstrom was 82. She made her debut in 1947 at the Drottningholm Palace Theatre, singing in one of Mozart's lesser-known works.
WIKI BIO
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Al Martino, Godfather singer who had first British No 1, dies aged 82

2009-10-14T02:31:00.000-07:00

Al Martino, the singer who played the Frank Sinatra-type role of Johnny Fontane in the film The Godfather, has died at the age of 82. The Italian-American crooner was known for his hit songs Here in My Heart, Spanish Eyes, Can’t Help Falling in Love and Volare, in a career that spanned more than five decades. Martino was born in South Philadelphia as Alfred Cini, and worked as a bricklayer in his parents' masonry business as a young man. He served in the US Marines during the Second World War, and was wounded during the invasion of Iwo Jima. A longtime resident of Beverly Hills, California, Martino died at his childhood home in the Philadelphia suburb of Springfield, in Delaware County.

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Alicia de Larrocha dies at age 86

2009-09-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

Alicia de Larrocha, a diminutive Spanish pianist esteemed for her elegant Mozart performances and regarded as an incomparable interpreter of Albéniz, Granados, Mompou and other Spanish composers, died on Sept. 25, 2009. She was 86. Alicia de Larrocha y de la Calle was born in Barcelona on May 23, 1923, to Eduardo de Larrocha and Maria Teresa de la Calle. Although her mother gave up any ambition of a performing career when she married, Ms. de Larrocha's aunt was a piano teacher at the Academia Marshall, a school founded by the pianist Frank Marshall, who was also a Granados student.
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Arthur Ferrante Dies at 88

2009-09-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

Arthur Ferrante, of the superb twin-piano team of Ferrante and Teicher, has passed away at the age of 88. Lou Teicher, you'll recall, died in August of 2008. The Los Angeles Times obituary can be read here: Arthur Ferrante Dies at 88.
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Fred Mills, 70

2009-09-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

Fred Mills, a trumpeter who played for 24 years with the Canadian Brass, has died in an automobile accident. He was 70.
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Conductor ERICH KUNZEL dies at age 74

2009-09-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

Erich Kunzel, Jr. (March 21, 1935 – September 1, 2009) was an American conductor and long time conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Kunzel was born in New York City. He was a timpanist and music arranger at his high school in Greenwich, Connecticut and received his first music degree from Dartmouth College. He also studied at Harvard and Brown universities. From 1960 to 1965 he conducted the Rhode Island Philharmonic. From 1965 to 1977 he was associate conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
When the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra board of trustees created the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra (CPO) in 1977, Kunzel was named conductor.
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CHRIS CONNOR, vocalist was 81

2009-08-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

Chris Connor, a Kansas City native and prominent big-band jazz singer of the 1940s, ‘50s and beyond, died on Saturday 29 August 2009, of cancer. She was 81.
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Hildegard Behrens dies, 72

2009-08-19T02:25:00.000-07:00

Soprano Hildegard Behrens, one of the finest Wagnerian performers of her generation, has died while traveling in Japan. She was 72.
Jonathan Friend, artistic administrator of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, said Tuesday in an e-mail to opera officials that Behrens felt unwell while traveling to a festival near Tokyo. She went to a Tokyo hospital, where she died of an apparent aneurism.
Friend's e-mail was shared with The Associated Press by Jack Mastroianni, director of IMG Artists.
Her funeral was planned in Vienna.
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Guitarist/inventor Les Paul dead at 94

2009-08-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

Les Paul, who pioneered the solid-body electric guitar later wielded by a legion of rock 'n' roll greats, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 94.
According to Gibson Guitar, Paul died at White Plains Hospital. His family and friends were by his side...MORE - SHOP Les Paul

Conductor Sir Edward Downes was 85

2009-07-14T03:08:00.000-07:00

Renowned British conductor Sir Edward Thomas Downes, CBE, has died at the age of 85, after travelling to right-to-die clinic Dignitas with his wife.
He and his wife Joan, 74, both chose to end their lives at the Swiss clinic, their family said in a statement.
According to the statement, the couple "died peacefully, and under circumstances of their own choosing".
The Birmingham-born conductor enjoyed a 40-year relationship with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

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Harve Presnell dies of cancer, age 75

2009-07-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

Harve Presnell (September 14, 1933 - June 30, 2009) was a Golden Globe-winning American film, musical theatre and television actor and singer.
His height, booming voice, and operatic training landed him the role of Johnnie Brown in Meredith Willson's musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown on stage which premiered on Broadway in 1960. He later reprised the role in the 1964 film version. He appeared as a cavalry scout in The Glory Guys (1965) and sang the stirring "They Call the Wind Maria" in the 1969 film Paint Your Wagon. Presnell did some other film and television work in the 1960s and early 1970s, but for the next couple of decades concentrated primarily on stage work, playing Rhett Butler in the West End production of Scarlett and touring the United States as Daddy Warbucks in Annie and its sequel, Annie Warbucks, among other productions.

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Pop singer-actress Gale Storm dies

2009-06-28T17:33:00.001-07:00

Josephine Owaissa Cottle (April 5, 1922 - June 27, 2009), better known as Gale Storm, was an American actress and singer, who starred in two popular television programs of the 1950s, My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show and had a few modest pop recording hits of the day.
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Kenny Rankin

2009-06-09T04:24:00.000-07:00

Kenny Rankin's record label says the veteran singer-songwriter has died of lung cancer. He was 67. Rankin died Sunday, 7 JUNE 2009, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The cause of death was lung cancer. In a career spanning 50 years, Rankin worked with such artists as Bob Dylan, wrote songs for Peggy Lee and Mel Torme and released his own acclaimed recordings, including "The Kenny Rankin Album" in 1976.

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Composer, Maw, dead at 73

2009-05-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Maw, one of Britain's leading composers, has died at the age of 73.
The composer, whose works include Odyssey and the opera Sophie's Choice, died in Washington DC where he had lived for 24 years.
He had been ill for some time and died of heart failure on Tuesday, his spokeswoman told the BBC.

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Sax man Bud Shank dies at 82

2009-04-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

Bud Shank, an alto saxophonist and flutist whose career spanned more than a half century, died April 2 at his home in Tucson, Ariz. The cause pulmonary failure. A day earlier Shank had been in San Diego recording a new album. Shank was 82. Born May 27, 1926 in Dayton, Ohio, Clifford Everett “Bud” Shank tried his hand at a variety of woodwinds before settling on the saxophone. He attended college in North Carolina and worked with saxophonist Charlie Barnet before moving to California in the late 1940s, where he played with trumpeter Shorty Rogers and then pianist Stan Kenton. Working with guitarist Laurindo Almeida, Shank was also one of the first jazz musicians to explore Brazilian music. Shank cut a number of albums for the world music label World Pacific from the ’50s to the ’70s.

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Film composer Maurice Jarre dies

2009-03-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

French composer Maurice Jarre, best known for his music for Hollywood films, has died in Los Angeles at 84, after suffering from cancer. Jarre, father of the composer Jean-Michel Jarre, rose to prominence relatively late in life. His breakthrough came in 1962 when he wrote the score for Lawrence of Arabia, for which he was awarded an Oscar. He won two further Oscars for Doctor Zhivago and A Passage to India, and composed music for more than 150 films.

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Songwriter JACK LAWRENCE 96 years.

2009-03-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

Songwriter Jack Lawrence, whose "Tenderly" launched the career of Rosemary Clooney and put Bobby Darin on the map with English lyrics to "Beyond the Sea," has died at the age of 96. Lawrence fell Saturday in his Redding home, fracturing his pelvic bone. He died Sunday at Danbury Hospital from complications of the injury. Lawrence's name may not be as widely known as those of his contemporaries Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and George Gershwin, but his melodies and lyrics launched the careers of at least a dozen top stars. In addition to Clooney and Darin, Frank Sinatra had his first solo hit with "All or Nothing at All" and "If I Didn't Care" launched The Ink Spots.

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Death of American Song composer Sunny Skylar

2009-02-20T19:10:00.000-08:00

Sunny Skylar (October 11, 1913 – February 2, 2009) was an American composer, singer, lyricist, and music publisher. He was born Selig Shaftel in Brooklyn, New York. As a singer, he appeared with a number of big bands, including those led by Ben Bernie, Paul Whiteman, Abe Lyman, and Vincent Lopez. After the end of the big band era, he continued to sing in nightclubs and theaters until 1952. Among the songs he wrote (either music or lyrics) are:
Amor
And So to Sleep Again
Bésame Mucho Traduction of the original Mexican song
Gotta Be This or That
Hair of Gold, Eyes of Blue
Love Me with All Your Heart
Where There's Smoke, There's Fire
You're Breaking My Heart

Swedish composer Erland von Koch dead, 98 years old

2009-02-16T21:28:00.000-08:00

Erland von Koch received his diploma as an organist and cantor from the Music Conservatory in Stockholm in 1935. He spent the following years studying composition, conducting, and piano in Germany and France. After a couple of years at the Swedish Radio, he worked as a teacher of music theory at the conservatory in Stockholm from 1953-1975. He became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1957, and was named a Professor in 1968. Among his awards were the Royal Swedish Academy of Music's medal for contributions to music in 2000. He was a versatile composer and wrote five symphonies, 12 Scandinavian dances, the Impusli and Oxberg trilogies, 12 concerti for solo instruments, numerous solo works, string quartets, the children's opera Pelle Svanslos, five ballets, songs, psalms, and film music.(among other things, he wrote the music for one of Ingmar Bergman's early films). "I strive for a simple, clear melodic style, preferably associated with folk music, and with a clear-cut rhythmic profile. I want my harmony to be uncomplicated," he said about his own composing. Erland von Koch passed away at the end of January, three months before his 99th birthday.

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Jazz drumming legend Louie Bellson died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 84.

2009-02-16T13:23:00.000-08:00

Born Luigi Balassoni, Bellson established himself as a premier big band drummer in the 1940s, drumming with Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Harry James. He played with Duke Ellington in the early 1950s and in small groups with Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson. Peterson, who was an exacting judge of musicianship, said that Bellson represented "the epitome of musical talent." The video above, from 1957, documents Bellson's renowned soloing ability. Bellson was married for 40 years to singer Pearl Bailey, who said of her husband: "to listen and see Louie is to know Man's love of music." (Bailey died in 1990.) In November last year, Bellson was hospitalized after breaking his hip during a fall. In January, he was transferred to a rehabilitation facility, where he was undergoing a regimen of physical therapy. His passing on the weekend was unexpected. He was active musically until recently. His drumming and composing were featured on a big band CD recorded in 2007 and released last year -- Louie & Clark Expedition 2 -- a project with him and fellow octuagenarian Clark Terry.

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Conductor John McGlinn passed away

2009-02-14T20:21:00.000-08:00

American conductor and musical theatre archivist John McGlinn passed away Saturday February 14th, 2009. He was one of the principal proponents of making authentic studio cast recordings of classic musical theatre works. McGlinn was the music director for the off-Broadway productions of Jerome Kern's SITTING PRETTY (1989) and THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE (1990). McGlinn was active in the recording studio in the 1980's and his complete recordings of Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein's SHOW BOAT and Cole Porter's ANYTHING GOES are considered to be the definitive representations of those productions. McGlinn made his operatic debut in 1993 conducting for the Juilliard Opera Theatre. He made his New York City Opera debut in 1996. For many years he was active in the restoration and recording of American stage works, recording with such artists as Frederica von Stade, Thomas Hampson, Ruth Ann Swenson, Teresa Stratas, Jerry Hadley and Roberta Peters, and recorded Fieber with Ian Bostridge and the orchestra of NDR Hannover. He has performed and recorded with the London Sinfonietta, the London Symphony, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Bologna Opera, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic and the BBC Concert Orchestra, among many others.

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Molly Bee dies at 69; country singer

2009-02-10T21:12:00.000-08:00

Molly Bee, a country singer popular in the 1950s and 1960s who was a teenage star on television's "Hometown Jamboree" and "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show," has died. She was 69. Bee, who lived in Carlsbad, Calif., died Saturday of complications related to a stroke.

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Songwriter, singer Blossom Dearie dies at 82

2009-02-08T23:41:00.000-08:00

Blossom Dearie, the singer and songwriter whose sweet soprano voice, harmonically innovative piano stylings and sophisticated performance made her a popular attraction in jazz and cabaret for nearly half a century, has died. She was 82. A singer, songwriter pianist who performed for nearly 50 years, retiring about three years ago. Among her best-known albums was “My Gentleman Friend,” recorded for Verve. She resisted being called a jazz or cult singer. “I think of myself as a songwriter's singer. All the great Broadway and Hollywood teams are in my repertoire, along with contemporary people like Dave Frishberg. ... Writers bring their songs to me because they rely on me to define their work with respect. That's very flattering." Songs she was known for performing for Frishberg included "Peel Me a Grape," ''I'm Hip" and "My Attorney Bernie." In the 1970s, she sang some of the songs on "Schoolhouse Rock!" including "Mother Necessity," ''Figure Eight" and "Unpack Your Adjectives."

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Bogdan Trochanowski, 62

2009-02-04T09:28:00.000-08:00

Polish cellist and composer Bogdan Trochanowski, who has been living in Caracas, Venezuela for 30 years, died Tuesday morning at the age of 62, said Venezuelan journalist Justyna Zun Dalloul, Wednesday. Trochanowski was born in Warsaw and he studied in Warsaw and Krakow, southern Poland. He was a soloist of the National Philharmonic Concert Hall. In 1977, he went to the Venezuela, where he stayed there until his final days. He performed under his stage-name Dan Savicha. In 1978, he started playing in the Symphonic Orchestra in Maracaibo and in the Symphonic Orchestra in Caracas. In 1990, Trochanowski became a professor at the Jose Lorenzo Llamozas Academy of Music in Caracas. Since 1994, he has been acting artistic and music consultant for the Contemporary Music Centre in Caracas. Three years later he was also named artistic director of Atma Music International. Throughout his life and career, he performed in numerous countries, donating large portions of the income from his concerts to various charity organizations.

His concerts have been recorded by both Polish Radio and Television, as well as many broadcast stations in Germany, France and Venezuela.

Trochanowski received numerous prestigious international prizes, including a medal and metal plaque in Cumana in 1981