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In Memoriam 2020
8 December 2020
Colonel Eugene W Allen (Ret) - 5th Leader and
Commander of the United States Army Band (Pershings Own) - In Memoriam
COL
(Ret.) Eugene W. Allen | June 13, 1927 – December 8, 2020
Colonel Eugene Allen, former Leader and Commander of the
The United States Army Band
died on December 8th at the age of 93. He
embodied all that is best about being a soldier, patriot, musician, and
citizen. In a military career that spanned 45 years of service to our
nation, he rose through the enlisted and officer ranks to become the
senior music director of the Armed Forces. He served in every type of
position in the Army Band Program, to include duties as a performer,
arranger, drum major, leader, commander, educator, and staff officer.
In 1976 Colonel Allen reached the top of his profession when he was
selected to be the fifth Leader and Commander of The United States Army
Band “Pershing’s Own.” He held that position until his retirement in
1990 when he was appointed Conductor Emeritus. A funeral service and
burial at Arlington National Cemetery
24 November
2020
William Brannen - Acclaimed Clarinet
Repair Craftsman - In Memoriam
http://www.brannenwoodwinds.com/
Evanston, Illinois USA
We have lost a giant in the clarinet world. Bill Brannen passed away
last Tuesday in Evanston, IL. The renowned clarinet repair technician, a
true artisan, was famous for his perfectionism, contributing to the
artistry of many famous clarinetists, whose photographs lined the walls
of his repair shop. It is fitting that his wife and repair partner Linda
is in these photos, as she was always at his side, having done half of
the repair work since 1975. Bill started Brannen Woodwinds in Chicago in
1967, moving his shop to Evanston in 1970. He previously worked for
legendary mouthpiece maker Frank Kaspar. Frank Kaspar told anyone who
would listen that Bill was the finest mechanic he’d ever met. The many
visitors from all over the world who came to Evanston to have their
clarinets “Brannenized” also benefited from hearing Bill’s stories about
orchestral performances, the sounds of great clarinetists who had tested
their clarinets there, and his vast knowledge about all things clarinet.
He will be greatly missed. Rest in Peace dear friend.
s
26 October 2020
Edward
Yadzinski - Clarinetist and Bass Clarinetist and Saxophonist in the Buffalo
Philharmonic, Faculty at the State University at Buffalo, and noted
Composer and proponent of New Music, and Archivist for the Philharmonic- In
Memoriam
Edward Yadzinski is a graduate of Wilkes College and the Eastman School of
Music. He joined the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra as a clarinetist and
saxophonist in 1963 under music director Lukas Foss. As a chamber player with
Foss, he performed at many venues for new music, including the Warsaw Autumn
Festival and at the Festival for American Music at St.-Paul de Vence at the
Maeght Gallery in Southern France. He also recorded Foss' Echoi, with the
composer at the keyboard.
For many years, Yadzinski served on the performance faculty in the music
department at UB, where he also lectured on acoustics for the department of
physics.
In a sabbatical year Mr. Yadzinski performed and served on the faculty at the
University of California at San Diego, during which time he lectured at the
American-Japanese Conference on Acoustics in Honolulu, Hawaii.
As a composer, Mr. Yadzinski has written a song cycle on the poems of Emily
Dickenson, as well as a chamber work on the poetry of Stephen Crane. His
original pieces for woodwinds are published by Alphonse Leduc, Paris.
For many seasons, he has also served as the concert annotator of the Buffalo
Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also responsible for the Orchestra's historic
archive.
As an amateur radio enthusiast, Mr. Yadzinski is a Life Member of the American
Radio Relay League. He is also a member of the Acoustical Society of America.
20 September 2020
James Pyne, Celebrated Former Solo Clarinetist in the Buffalo
Philharmonic, Professor Emeritus at Ohio State University, and Master Mouthpiece
Craftsman with Professionals and Players Internationslly using them - In
Memoriam
Dublin, Ohio USA
Biograhical Information and his Pyne-Clarion Firm
hyperlinked here
Tributes for James Pyne by
Colleagues, many to be added soon
I was absolutely heartbroken to hear of the passing of my longtime friend
and esteemed colleague, James Pyne.
Jim and I met during my first years in Cleveland, becoming close
life long friends.
I will be forever grateful for the kindness, love, wisdom ,
knowledge and patience that he so graciously and willingly shared.
May you Rest In Peace dear Jim., and may your memory be a blessing
to all who loved you! Franklin Cohen
11 August 2020
Denver, Colorado USA
James Ognibene -
Renowned Bass Clarinetist in the Metropolitan Opera and Leading Soloist and
Padagogue - In Memoriam
(In
JIm's memory watch the US Marine Band Clarinets
on Wed. 8/12 @730pm ET here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oecaw-JKh0
)
Jim Ognibene,
who played bass clarinet in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for 33 years and
retired last year, has passed away after a long illness. Prior to the Met, Jim
played in the Charlotte (NC) Symphony and before that in the US Marine Band for
4 years. Condolences to his family and many music colleagues. On a person note,
Jim was the nicest person ever and an unbelieveable bass clarinet clarinet
player. I'm so fortunate to have know him. Here's a youtube video with him
talking about the bc. If I see an obituary, i will post it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaFyHGwMIDY&fbclid=IwAR2DBhVjtwGlNiJDZHMFpbsVnvWBdkPVVCjDqCCdJqAai89qwv3XX6ol0Nw
A Tribute from VIP Jessica Phillips
Jessica Phillips
For 18 years I sat next to this
humble, hilarious, incredible person. We saw each other through many ups
and downs over the years, always with respect and a LOT of
laughter. My first year in the orchestra, I often got in trouble for
laughing at Jim's dry, often self-deprecating witticisms. Jim had the
most amazing sound on the bass clarinet. Even though he liked to say
"playing bass clarinet is basically hours of boredom followed by 3
minutes of sheer terror", he never ceased to amaze his colleagues across
the orchestra with his musicianship. Even audience members knew he was a
rockstar, especially during the Ring Cycle. Once, in having to end the
rehearsal before finishing the Clemenza di Tito basset clarinet aria
(for which Jim had already waited two hours to play), the conductor
asked Jim "Are you ok?" and Jim instantly quipped "I make a living,” to
which the entire orchestra roared in laughter, including the conductor.
Even with his humor, Jim’s seriousness about bringing his absolute best
each and every night, no matter what was going on, is one of the things
I truly respected and loved about him. He was the consummate
professional. My heart is so heavy that we have lost this gentle giant
of the bass clarinet. He will be missed dearly. Words really cannot do
him full justice, so for now, we hold him and his family in our hearts,
and toast him on his way...
11 August 2020
Joseph Rabbai -
Former Solo Clarinetist in the Metropolitan Opera and Major Player and Teacher
in New York - In Memoriam
New York City USA
Joseph Rabbai has been principal clarinet of The Metropolitan
Opera Orchestra since 1980. Prior to that, he was principal clarinet of The
Israel Philharmonic, The American Symphony Orchestra, The Brooklyn Philharmonic,
and a member of The New York City Opera Orchestra. He is also the principal
clarinet with The Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, a position he has held since
1971. A graduate of Temple University and The Juilliard School of Music, Mr.
Rabbai has been a teacher of clarinet and chamber music at a number of
institutions including Queens College, Brooklyn College, The Graduate School of
the City University of new York, The State University of New York at Purchase as
well as at New Jersey City University. A highly respected New York recording
artist, his records of works by Ned Rorem, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Olivier
Messaien have met with much critical acclaim. An active participant in chamber
music, Mr. Rabbai has performed extensively with the New York Philomusica and at
The Caramoor Festiva
2 August 2020
Leon Fleisher - World Renowned Pianist and Professor at the Peabody Conservatory
in Baltimore, Maryland - In Memoriam
Baltimore, Maryland USA
Leon Fleisher (American pianist & conductor). He was one of the most renowned
pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him
"one of the most refined and transcendent musicians the United States has ever
produced". He was a leading American pianist in the 1950s and early '60s, who
was forced by an injury to his right hand to channel his career into conducting,
teaching and mastering the left-hand repertoire.
Leon Fleisher was born July 23, 1928, in San Francisco. His father, Isidor,
was from Odessa; his mother, Bertha, from Chelm, a small town in Poland.
They emigrated to the U.S. following World War I and met while living in
lower Manhattan.
“With the passing of Leon Fleisher, the music world has lost one
of its towering figures. Our hearts go out to Leon’s wife, Katherine, and his
family and loved ones. For members of the Peabody family, it is a deeply
personal loss. The
name of Leon Fleisher has been synonymous with the Peabody Institute for more
than six decades, his home since 1959. Leon’s remarkable gifts as a musician,
pianist, and teacher, were matched only by his charm, wit, intelligence and
warmth as a human being.
“As a member of the Peabody Conservatory faculty, Mr. Fleisher provided
inspiration, guidance, and singular insight to hundreds of students over the
years both in his piano studio and on the podium. His approach to teaching went
as deep as possible – showing young artists how to connect a love of music to
the world around them.
“It seems simplistic to say that there was no one else like Leon. But that is
the essence of it. We were extremely fortunate to have had this man in our midst
for so many years. His impact here is profound and lasting, and his absence will
be felt keenly throughout the Peabody community. We have lost a giant.”
In 2012, Fleisher donated his concert and master class programs, press material,
correspondence, itineraries, photographs, clippings, personal papers, and
memorabilia to the Peabody Archives. More than 1,000 of these items have been
digitized and are available through the Fleisher
digital collection.
A memorial
fund has
been established in Leon Fleisher’s name. Donations to the fund will support
piano scholarships and purchasing pianos at Peabody.
27 April 2020
Lynn Harrel - Celebrated Cello Soloist and
former Principal Cellist in the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell, and
faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Juilliard School and many other
renowned Conservatories - In Memoriam
Lynn Harrell, who successfully made the leap from orchestral
musician to top-flight soloist, has died at the age of 76. He was
born in New York into a musical family: his father was the baritone
Mack Harrell and his mother, Marjorie McAlister Fulton, a violinist.
He studied at Juilliard (with Leonard Rose) and at Curtis (with
Orlando Cole).
His parents both died when Harrell was young: his father in
1960 when Lynn was 15, and his mother in 1962 when he was 18. In an
interview with Andrew Stewart in Gramophone in
May 1994, he talked about his father’s influence: ‘My father was a
great singer, but I wasn't aware of that until after he died. But
then I would play along with, study and listen to small snippets of
his recordings, over and over again, to see the meaning of his art.
At times, that experience was often overpowering. I began to realize
that it was possible to get a similar variety of attack with the bow
as that possible from the human voice. Listening to records of
singers became my inspiration fully for five or six years, and I
then consciously attempted to extend the palette of sounds I could
produce on the cello to rival those of the voice.’
In 1962, he joined George Szell’s Cleveland Orchestra,
becoming Principal Cello in 1964, a post he held until 1971. That
year he made his solo debut in New York and his solo career was
launched.
He both performed and recorded extensively as a soloist
(mainly for Decca) but also worked frequently in the trio with
Vladimir Ashkenazy and Itzhak Perlman – together they recorded
Beethoven’s piano trios (for EMI) and with Ashkenazy, the cello
sonatas (for Decca). Among his extensive discography was a recording
for DG of Taneyev’s Piano Quintet (with Ilya Gringolts, Vadim Repin,
Nobuko Imai and Mikhail Pletnev) which won Gramophone’s
Chamber Award in 2006. His catalogue embraces most of the cello
concerto repertoire as well as numerous chamber music, and solo,
recordings.
Harrell played a Montagnana cello from 1720 and then the
1673 Stradivarius cello owned previously by Jacqueline du Pré.
Latterly he played on a modern instrument made by Christopher
Dungey.
As his solo career slowed, Harrell took on a number of
teaching posts: the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Los
Angeles Philharmonic Institute, the Cleveland Institute of Music,
Juilliard, the USC Thornton School of Music in LA and at Rice
University.
17 April 2020
Paul Shelden - Renowned Clarinetist and wind
doubler - Professor Emeritus at Brooklyn College - In Memoriam
Hewlitt, New York
Paul Shelden was a musician who performed with big stars, but his most
important role was as a husband and father who thought nothing of sticking
his arm down a restaurant toilet to retrieve his son’s pen, and who always
made sure his daughter’s school projects were completed.
Shelden, a resident of Hewlett for 28 years and a professor emeritus of
music at Brooklyn
College, died at home on April 17 of complications of
Covid-19. He was 79.
“He did it all,” said Seth, who is also a musician and performer. “He was
quite well known, and an accomplished person.”
Seth recounted the time he thought he couldn’t complete a college challenge
that involved sleeping in the great outdoors for a month. Having never slept
outside, he found it extremely difficult, so he called his dad and asked for
a ride home. “I fully expected him not to do this, but he didn’t miss a
beat, and said he’d come right up. I was flabbergasted. I said, I better
finish, I can’t make him do that.” So Seth completed the challenge.
Paul Sheldon was born on March 8, 1941, in Brooklyn, and took to music as a
youngster. He and his twin brother, Aaron, performed on Ted Mack’s
television variety show “The Original Amateur Hour” in 1956.
Shelden’s musical talent took him to the Stevensville Hotel, a resort in the
Catskill Mountains, where he became the bandleader. Pam Jacobs, who sang
with the band, met Sheldon in 1963, and they fell in love. They were married
for 51 years.
“He was generous and giving,” said his wife, who is also ill with Covid-19.
She recounted Paul’s retrieval of Seth’s favorite pen from the restaurant
toilet when his son was around 7.
After earning degrees from Juilliard, Shelden performed and conducted
classical, jazz, klezmer and opera at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center,
Radio City Musical Hall, the Tilles Center, the White House and other
venues. He also performed in Broadway musical orchestras and in bands for
stars who spanned generations, including Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Bob
Hope, Billy Joel, Frank Sinatra and Blood, Sweat & Tears. For many years he
performed in Guy Lombardo’s annual televised New Year’s Eve concerts.
Shelden earned a doctorate from the University of Maryland, and also played
under the batons of conductors James Levine and Robert Shaw, and debuted
works written specifically for him, according to his son. He wrote many
published articles on music teaching and performance, and was in demand as a
judge for competitions and programs.
He founded his own company in 2003, Diplomatte Musical Instruments, and
oversaw the design and manufacture of woodwind instruments made in China.
Asked what she would most remember, Shelden’s daughter, Dr. Loren Napoli, a
school psychologist, said, “His patience and eagerness, and that he wanted
the people around him to be as happy as possible. He would sacrifice his own
needs for everybody. If we had to wake up early, he would wake up early. If
we had to stay up late, he would stay up late.”
Despite also battling Parkinson’s disease, Shelden connected with his
father’s past as a dedicated participant in Rock Steady Boxing, a therapy
program at the New York Institute of Technology. Despite the Parkinson’s and
before he contracted Covid-19, he performed with Long Island’s Northwinds
Symphonic Band.
In addition to his wife and children, Shelden is survived by his brother
(who still plays the accordion, and worked in television financial
services), as well as Napoli’s husband, Rocco, and their two children.
The family held a graveside service on April 21, led by Rabbi Bruce
Ginsburg. Only 10 people attended, but more than 200 others viewed the
service on Zoom.
Seth recalled that the day’s crazy weather included heavy winds, a hailstorm
and then a rainbow. “It seemed magical,” he said, “since my father’s
signature song was ‘Over the Rainbow.’”
30 March 2020
Dennis Zeisler, Member of the West Point
Band and later Acclaimed Professor and Director of Bands at Old Dominion
University - In Memoriam
Norfolk, Virginia USA
Dennis Zeisler enlisted in the Army as solo clarinetist of the West Point Band,
was professor of music for 39 years at Old Dominion University, founded and
conducted the Virginia Wind Symphony, served as 77th president of the American
Bandmasters Association, and sat on the board of the Midwest Band and Orchestra
Clinic. Zeisler was a proud University
of Michigan alumni.
Tributes to Dennis
Zeisler from Past Colleagues from the West Point Band
LTC (Ret) David Deitrick - former Commander of
the USMA Band
I
believe I first met Dennis when I was band commander and he came to a
reunion, conducting the band for the concert. He was a talented
musician/conductor, and one of the finest people I know. I got to know him
much better during the last 18 years during ABA conferences. He was highly
respected and loved, always friendly and encouraging to those around him.
His wife Carol is also a remarkable person.
Dennis was proud of his service at West Point. He will be missed
very much.
David Deitrick
Peter Cokkinias - Clarinet Colleague
Thanks for your message and this sad news about Dennis
Zeisler.
I also served with him during those years as well
and salute his amazing career and service to the
musical arts. He was quite a musician and shared his
talents with so many people!
Warm regards and stay safe!
Peter
29 March 2020
Krzysztof Penderecki - Internationally Renowned
Composer, Conductor and Iconic Musical Figure of the last and Present Century -
In Memoriam
Krzysztof Penderecki is a composer and conductor. He was born on
23 November 1933, in Dębica, died on 29th March 2020. In the
history of 20th-century music, his career stands out for his
fast rise to the top, matched by none, with the possible
exception of Stravinsky.
The Berliner Philharmoniker mourn the death of Krzysztof Penderecki, who died on
29 March at the age of 86. Penderecki was one of the most prominent composers of
our time and his works have been featured in major opera houses and concert
halls. The Berliner Philharmoniker have also performed many of his compositions,
both under his own direction and in concerts with Herbert von Karajan and Zubin
Mehta.
Among the works performed were Penderecki’s Symphonies No. 1 and 2 and his
Second Violin Concerto. His Cello Concerto No. 2 was premiered in 1983 by the
Berliner Philharmoniker under Penderecki’s direction and with Mstislav
Rostropovich as the soloist. A performance of the St.
Luke Passion with Antoni Wit
as conductor was recorded for the Digital Concert Hall in 2013.
Go to the St. Luke Passion in the Digital Concert Hall
11 March 2020
Charles Wuorinen - Major American Composer and proactive authority in
New Music - In Memoriam
It is with regret that we announce the death of Charles
Wuorinen, composer of over 270 works, virtuosic pianist, and
conductor. He died on Wednesday, March 11 from complications
after sustaining a fall in September 2019.
Wuorinen’s music of refinement, power, technical excellence and
wide-ranging emotional pallet found a home in operas, ballets,
symphonies, and chamber and vocal works of all combinations and
instruments. Wuorinen’s last completed work was his Second
Percussion Symphony, premiered in Miami in September 2019.
In recent years James Levine became a staunch advocate for
Wuorinen’s music and commissioned five orchestral works
including his Fourth Piano Concerto with Peter Serkin for
the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Michael Tilson Thomas, a
conductor whom Wuorinen worked with for much of his career,
commissioned Bamboula Beach for the inaugural concert of
the New World Symphony, and most recently Sudden Changes for
the San Francisco Symphony.
The first composer Christoph von Dohnányi commissioned for the
Cleveland Orchestra was Wuorinen, who produced Movers and
Shakers. Oliver Knussen, a great interpreter of Wuorinen’s
works, recorded A Reliquary for Igor Stravinsky, which
enshrined musical fragments entrusted to Wuorinen at the Russian
composer’s death by his widow, Vera Stravinsky.
Wuorinen wrote six works for the New York City Ballet including
three scores inspired by scenes from Dante for Peter
Martins, and Five: Concerto for Amplified Cello and
Orchestra with the dual purpose of it being a cello concerto
for his great friend and collaborator Fred Sherry.
Wuorinen’s works for the stage include operas on Annie Proulx’s Brokeback
Mountain and Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of
Stories. Throughout his career Wuorinen displayed his
mastery of vocal writing, setting texts from the Vulgate to
contemporary writers such as James Fenton, James Tate, and John
Ashbery.
Wuorinen had a strong interest in earlier music which is seen in
such works as Delight of the Muses, written for the
Mozart Bicentennial, Time Regained, which uses materials
from Machaut, Dufay, Gibbons, and Mattei de Perugia, and The
Magic Art: An Instrumental Masque drawn from the works of Henry
Purcell.
I
In 1962 he co-founded The Group for Contemporary Music with
Harvey Sollberger. The Group was the precursor of a large number
of similar ensembles formed throughout America particularly in
the early 1970’s, and its luminous performances were widely
regarded as models to be emulated.
A
prodigy who started composing at age five, Wuorinen was a
polymath with interests in fractal geometry, astrophysics,
Egyptology and Chinese calligraphy.
He was
the recipient of many awards, fellowships, and honors including
the Pulitzer Prize (for Time’s Encomium) and a MacArthur
Fellowship, and he was a member of the American Academy of Arts
and Letters. He is the author of Simple Composition, used
by composition students throughout the world. His longtime
publisher is C.F. Peters.
He is survived by
his husband of thirty-two years, Howard Stokar.
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4 March 2020
William O Smith - Renowned Clarinetist and Jazz Performer and Composer of some
of the most important Contemporary Music for the Clarinet - In Memoriam
Seattle, Washington
USA
The groundbreaking clarinetist known as William O.
“Bill” Smith, a founding member of the Dave Brubeck Octet, Smith also pioneered
the use of multiphonics on clarinet in the 1960s and has continued to experiment
with extended techniques throughout his life. Born in Sacramento, California, he
studied at Juilliard, Mills College, the University of California–Berkeley and
the Paris Conservatory, and his longest teaching appointment was at the
University of Washington, where he taught composition, clarinet and contemporary
music for more than 30 years. He has enjoyed great success over seven decades as
a composer and performer. He is still writing and performing music, most
recently at a residency this summer at the Bologna Conservatory in Italy.
Bill Smith makes so much music that he's had to divide his
workload between two personae.
As William O. Smith, he's an acclaimed
and influential innovator in "new" or "contemporary music." He pioneered the use
of many untapped sounds of the clarinet, and incorporated them into his 200
compositions.
In his second musical world, jazz, his renown is just as great, thanks not just
to those same clarinet innovations, but moreover to his subtle use of them in
soloing and accompaniment.
Dave Brubeck calls Smith "one of the all-time greats." And he doesn't just say
that because he and Bill have known each other well for 50 years. They have
worked together throughout that long friendship, which began when they were at
graduate school together at Mills College, in Oakland, Cal. Smith was an
original member of the Brubeck octet that worked the Bay Area, beginning in
1947, and with which Brubeck began one of the most successful careers in West
Coast jazz.
Smith performed on and contributed compositions to the group's first
recordings in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In the 1960s he again recorded
with Brubeck - an album a year until he moved to Seattle in 1966. That pace of
recording resumed when the two began working together again regularly in 1982.
That was when Smith took over the soloist's spot with the Brubeck Quartet and
began to work its many concerts - up to 100 a year. The group's pace has slowed
of late, but Smith still performs on its long spring tours of Europe and on West
Coast gigs.
When
Brubeck asked him to begin touring with his band, Smith agreed with the proviso
that touring wouldn't preclude teaching composition, orchestration, and
contemporary idioms at the University of Washington, and co-directing its highly
praised Contemporary Group.
26 February 2020
Hans Deinzer - Celebrated German Klarinette Pedagogue and teacher at the
Musikhochule in Hannover and mentor of many of the Great German and European
players - In Memoriam
Hannover, Germany
Born in
Rothenbruck [de],
Deinzer received his first clarinet lessons at the Städtisches Konservatoriun in
Nuremberg between
1949 and 1955.[2]
He was until 1962 a student of
Rudolf Gall in
Munich.[
Deinzer was clarinetist at the
Nürnberger Symphoniker
and at the
Sinfonieorchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks
in Hamburg.[2]
He was one of the first clarinetists to professionally adopt the use of rubber
mouthpieces, and also
was a champion of historical instruments and playing. He recorded two versions
of the
Mozart Clarinet Concerto
using a reconstructed historical boxwood clarinet and has premiered several
important works, including
Pierre Boulez's
"Domaines" —which was written for him— and
Henri Pousseur's
Madrigal I.
He is a two-time winner of the
Grand Prix du Disque.
His students include several prominent clarinetists, such as
Sabine Meyer,
Reiner Wehle,
Wolfgang Meyer,
Martin Fröst,
Andrew Marriner,
Nicholas Cox,
Antonio Salguero and
Michele Zukovsky.
18 January 2020
Robert Crowley - Acclaimed Clarinetist and
Teacher - Solo Clarinetist Emeritus in the Montreal Symphony - In Memoriam
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Robert
Crowley's professional world was one of music and performance. He always said it
was an immense privilege to be able to work at that about which he was most
passionate. He started playing clarinet at age 9 as part of the school band in
Deer Park, Long Island. He excelled and was accepted to the Eastman School of
Music where he studied with Stanley Hasty. He completed his Master's degree at
the Cleveland Institute of Music with Robert Marcellus. He performed in the
United States from 1973 to 1976. In 1976 he won the audition for Associate
Principal clarinetist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and was appointed
Principal in 1998. Bob was always known for his persistent quest for the perfect
reed and for the perfect mouthpiece. But the result was so worth it! He could
play like no one else and produce an angelic sound. He was also a devoted
teacher to an entire generation of clarinet students at McGill University. He
was proud of each and every one.
You can call this is
trademark recording- Rhapsody in Blue....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNLera4qKSc&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3SMAYd_d-v4sLDEbPvi2ddYTTlp5TUDY9hcBCaXHjpW_lyKj8DKM449PE
14 January 2020
Guy DePlus, Renowned French Clarinetist and
Professor at the Paris Superiore Conservatory and a Founding member of the Paris
Intercontemparian with Pierre Boulez - In Memoriam
Paris, France
Guy Deplus studied clarinet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique
de Paris and received Premiers Prix in clarinet and chamber music. He was a
professor of clarinet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de
Paris, and was retired. He taught many French orchestral clarinetists. He was
also one of the clarinetists who collaborated with Buffet Crampon on the
creation of the Tosca and Festival clarinets. Together with Pierre Boulez,
Deplus cofounded the "Concerts du Domaine Musical". He was a soloist in the
Paris Opera. Deplus received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the
International Clarinet Association (for "Outstanding Performance, Teaching,
Research, and Service to the Clarinet). He has been Director of the
International Clarinet Congress 81 and 97 held in Paris. His collaboration
with Buffet-Crampon, the renowned Clarinet Maker brought about the development
of advanced Clarinet models including the Tosca and other models. He was
96 years old.
Copyright © 1999 WKA-Clarinet.org. All rights reserved.
Revised:
December 20, 2020