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

Maralin Niska (November 16, 1926 – July 9, 2016) was an American operatic soprano, well known as a singing-actress.

Born in San Pedro, California, Niska studied under Louise Mansfield, Lotte Lehmann, and primarily Ernest St. John Metz. Niska sang extensively in southern California during the 1950s, including performances with the USC Opera, UCLA Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Redlands Bowl and other regional companies. Her extensive national and international career began at the opening of the Metropolitan Opera National Company as Susannah in the Carlisle Floyd work, in Indianapolis in 1965. After retiring from the stage, she lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was married to William Mullen. WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: Maralin Niska - Quando Men Vo, Live Metropolitan Opera (HQ) Opera; La Boheme Composer; Puccini Soprano; Maralin Niska Place & Date; Metropolitan Opera,1977.
 

Gladys Mercedes Nordenstrom (May 23, 1924 – July 5, 2016) was an American composer.

Gladys Nordenstrom was born in Mora, Minnesota. She studied music at the Institute of Fine Arts at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where she received bachelor's and master's degrees. She studied under and then married Austrian composer Ernst Krenek there in 1950. After completing her studies, Nordenstrom worked as an elementary school teacher until she moved with Krenek to California. In the following years, she accompanied her husband to visiting professorships in various locations and sometimes collaborated on works. After his death in 1991, she founded the Ernst Krenek Institute in 1998 and the private foundation Krems die Ernst Krenek in 2004 in Vienna, Austria. In 2006 Gladys Nordenstrom was awarded the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria. She died on July 5, 2016 in Palm Springs, California.
 

Alirio Díaz (12 November 1923 – 5 July 2016) was a Venezuelan classical guitarist and composer

Alirio Díaz was one of the most prominent composer-guitarists of his country. A guitar competition named Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Alirio Díaz has been held in his honor in Caracas and other cities in Venezuela (the April 2006 contest was held in Carora). Many compositions have been dedicated to Díaz including Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo's Invocación y Danza. In 1961, Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo's piece Invocación y Danza, dedicated to Alirio Díaz, won the First Prize at the Coupe International de Guitare awarded by the Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF). In turn, Díaz obliged and the next year performed this very difficult solo piece. It has also been recorded by Díaz. This was the first of many compositions subsequently dedicated to Alirio Díaz. Alirio Díaz performed all over the world combining baroque music with the works of modern Latin American composers, such as Lauro, Sojo and Barrios Mangoré. He teached in Rome and performed in concert with his son Senio. During the European winter, he used to return to Venezuela to his native town, La Candelaria. WIKIPEDIA

Inocente José Carreño, 96 years

Inocente José Carreño (28 December 1919, Porlamar, Margarita Island, Venezuela – 29 June 2016) was a composer and academic. He won the Venezuelan National Prize for Music in 1989. Carreño died 29 June 2016, aged 96. WIKIPEDIA VIDEO: Margariteña (glosa sinfónica), for orchestra (1954) Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá Enrique Arturo Diemecke Venezuelan composer Inocente Carreno's music explores both the lush colors of musical Impressionism and the rich melodies and driving rhythms of his native popular music. Much of Carreno's music attempts to capture the spirit and feeling of folk music using compositional techniques from Europe, rather than incorporating folk material directly. "Margaritena," a work for orchestra dating from 1954, is an exception; it uses both famous popular tunes and spirited Venezuelan rhythms. It takes its title from the prinicpal song it uses, "Margarita es una lagrima" ("Margarita is a tear"). However, since the music of the island of Margarita, on which Carreno was born, made a particular impression on Carreno, the title "Margaritena" has nationalist implications as well. "Margaritena" is, in fact, a kind of Venezuelan rhapsody; besides "Margarita es una lagrima," it incorporates popular pieces like "Canto de Pulon," "Canto de Velorio," "Tiguitiguitos," among others, all luxuriantly orchestrated and given all the color and life Carreno can muster. But "Margaritena" is not simply a bunch of popular melodies strung together; Carreno cunningly unifies the work by repeating the "Margarita" theme in several guises and in unexpected places, from the soft, tentative beginning of the song played on solo horn at the work's opening to the rousing full-orchestra climax on the song at its end. Carreno also uses a little, explosive theme that immediately follows the first full statement of the "Margarita" theme throughout the work; at the beginning, it sounds savage and somewhat out of place, but by the work's end it is in full accord with the music around it. This repetition and metamorphosis keeps the music argument going, and connects the gorgeous melodies Carreno sets for the orchestra in a logical way, making "Margaritena" into a smooth, spirited musical celebration. [allmusic.com] Art by Adolfo Nigro

Anahid Ajemian, Violinist and New-Music Champion, Dies at 92

Anahid Marguerite Ajemian (January 26, 1924, New York - June 13, 2016, New York) was an American violinist of Armenian extraction. Ajemian's career in contemporary music got its impetus from the desire to help young composers of her generation have their compositions performed. Additionally, she enjoyed performing the music of established contemporary performers. She included these composers with the traditional repertoire.

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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.

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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 :)

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

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

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.

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