In Memoriam — Remembering the Remarkable Music Makers We Lost in 2021 [RIP]
As the year draws to a close, we’d like to take the time to remember those remarkable musicians whom we lost from our community in 2021
Our condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the following:
Legendary Soviet-born violinist, violist, and conductor Igor Oistrakh passed away.
One of the most revered conductors of his generation, Bernard Haitink, Cheif Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for 27 years, passed away.
Jazz pianist Chick Corea, the fourth-most nominated artist in Grammy history, passed away from a rare form of cancer.
American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, one of the greatest Broadway songwriters of the latter half of the 20th century, passed away.
German cellist Wolfgang Boettcher, the principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1963 until his retirement in 1976, passed away.
Violinist James Buswell passed away.
French-American violinist Corinne Chapelle sadly lost her battle to a rare form of cancer.
Violinist Raymond Gniewek, the longest-serving concertmaster of New York’s Metropolitan Opera Orchestra during the latter half of the 20th century, passed away.
Former New York Philharmonic violist Mildred Perlow died.
Guido Lamell, a former violinist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conductor, and advocate for the arts, died from a heart attack.
Aspen Music Festival Opera Program Director Edward Berkeley died.
Cellist Sebastian Hess passed away suddenly from an aneurysm.
The First Lady of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and widow of Sir Georg Solti, Valerie Solti, passed away.
Austrian violinist Lukas Florian David, longtime teacher positions at the University of Vienna and Detmold School of Music, passed away.
Violinist Daniel Shindarov, a former concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, passed away.
Udo Zimmermann, a prominent German composer and the former director of the Leipzig Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin, has passed away following a battle with a rare neurodegenerative disorder.
Dutch violinist and pedagogue Coosje Wijzenbeek passed away due to an undisclosed cause.
Parisian musician and pedagogue Tasso Adamopoulos passed away after complications with COVID-19.
American bassist Eugene Wright, the last surviving member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, passed away.
British violinist John Georgiadis, a former concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra, passed away.
Violinist Zoran Dzorlev passed away from complications with the COVID-19 virus.
German Conductor and former Chief Conductor of the Munich Symphony Georg Schmöhe passed away.
American multi-genre cellist David Darling died.
Argentine composer GRAMMY-Winning Composer Claudia Montero passed away due to cancer.
Israeli-American violinist and composer Haim Shtrum passed away from complications with the COVID-19 virus.
Former London Philharmonic Orchestra violist Anthony Byrne died.
American cellist Winifred Mayes, the first woman in the Boston Symphony Orchestra's string section, passed away.
Opera Director Elijah Moshinsky died of COVID-19.
Violinist Hong-Guang Jia, a long-time assistant concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony and faculty at Duquesne University School of Music, passed away.
Brazilian double bassist Antonio Arzolla, a bass teacher at the University of Rio de Janeiro and member of the Symphonic Orchestra of the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro, passed away.
Violinist Daniel Kobialka, a former Principal Second Violinist for the San Francisco Symphony and founding member of the Midsummer Mozart Festival Orchestra, passed away.
Violinist Sonia Slany passed away.
Conductor Kevin McCutcheon passed away.
French cellist Jean-Marie Gamard died.
Conductor and pianist Steuart Bedford passed away.
American cellist David Guggenheim passed away.
Violinist Yuval Waldman, Russian-Israeli violinist and conductor, died.
Egyptian violinist and Dean of Cairo's Arabic Music Institute, Ashraf Heikal, passed away suddenly from an undisclosed cause.
Cellist and former professor of the Royal College of Music, Anna Shuttleworth, has passed away from an undisclosed cause.
German oboist, conductor, and former professor at the University of Music in Detmold, Helmut Winschermann, passed away at his home in Bonn.
American violinist Carolyn Sheppe Alliss passed away.
Conductor Leonardo David, the director of Brazil’s Espírito Santo Sesi Camerata Orchestra, passed away in Rio de Janeiro from a heart attack.
Cuban-American gambist José Vázquez died.
Russian violinist Mark Lubotsky passed away in Hamburg, Germany due to an undisclosed cause.
Music Director of the Interlochen Arts Academy and Camp, Byron Hanson, passed away due to an undisclosed cause.
Luthier Philippe Dupuy died.
Celebrated composer Simon Bainbridge passed away after battling a long illness.
American luthier William Monical passed away.
Violinist Dmitry Gerikh passed away.
Swiss cellist Rocco Filippini passed away.
Brazilian violist Ricardo Lobo Kubala died following a brain aneurysm.
Former principal violist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Peter Sokole died following complications of COVID-19.
Armenian-Canadian violinist Gerard Kantarjian, a former concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony, passed away.
Former BBC Symphony Orchestra cellist Sidney Denbin passed away.
American composer and pianist Andrew Violette passed away following a long battle with cancer.
English composer Anthony Payne has died.
Conductor Kazimierz Kord passed away due to an undisclosed cause.
Russian cellist Alexey Seleznev passed away from an undisclosed cause.
Former Dean of the Curtis Institute Robert Fitzpatrick died.
British Conductor Malcolm Goldring passed away from pancreatic cancer.
Renowned conductor Martin Turnovsky passed away.
Russian cellist Lev Evgrafov died.
Longtime MET bassist Martin Topolsky passed away.
Former Principal Cellist of the Tchaikovsky Radio Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Victor Simon died.
German-born conductor Heribert Beissel passed away due to an undisclosed cause.
Max Olding, the prominent Australian pianist, conductor, and teacher, has passed away.
Former Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra director Jeanne Lamon passed away from cancer.
Vienna-based violinist Arkadij Winokurow passed away.
American pianist and composer Frederic Rzewski passed away.
Musician and cultural activist Stern-Wolfe, the founder of Downtown Music Productions (DMP), passed away.
Composer Joanna Bruzdowicz, an advocate of Polish music and contemporary music, passed away.
Tucson Symphony violinist George Patrick Blum died.
Esther Bejarano, one of the last survivors of the women's orchestra at Auschwitz, has passed away.
Professional bassist, and self-employed violin craftsman, William Genley Anderson, died.
Violist Mira Menza, a former member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Israeli Opera, passed away after battling breast cancer.
Singaporean wind band and orchestral conductor Adrian Tan suffered from cardiac arrest in his sleep.
Utah conductor, pianist, and composer Jeff Manookian passed away from lymphatic cancer.
American Bluegrass fiddler Byron Berlin passed away.
American violinist and vocalist Robby Steinhardt, lead singer for the classic rock band "Kansas," passed away.
Former Philadelphia Orchestra violinist Jerome Wigler passed away.
Stockton Symphony long-serving concertmaster Warren van Bronkhorst passed away peacefully in his sleep.
Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra Founder Allan Stephenson passed away.
New York's Little Orchestra Society Executive Director Joanne Bernstein-Cohen died.
Former Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Gianluigi Gelmetti passed away in Monte Carlo.
Avant-garde award-winning composer, producer, and punk guitarist, Keith Patchel, passed away.
Violinist Gustavo Menezes, a member of the Orquestra Petrobras Sinfônica and the Orquestra Sinfônica do Theatro Municipal, died from a heart attack.
American composer Stephen Dembski passed away unexpectedly.
English jazz musician, sound engineer, record producer, author, painter, and former club owner Peter Ind passed away.
Composer Raymond Murray Schafer passed away following a battle with Alzheimer's disease.
German composer Siegfried Matthus passed away in Stolzenhagen, Brandenburg after a long and serious illness.
Swiss conductor and choirmaster Michel Corboz passed away due to heart failure following an operation.
A historian, performer, educator, and publisher of early music for cello, Nona Pyron, passed away in Santa Barbara, California.
British luthier Gerald Botteley died.
Geneva Chamber Orchestra timpanist Sergi Sempere passed away from a mountain climbing accident during his descent on Mont Blanc in the Swiss Alps.
A founder of the world jazz collective, Ensemble Elektra, Elektra Kurtis, passed away from brain cancer after struggling with the condition for four years.
Henry Charles Smith III, a Grammy award-winning conductor, trombonist, and educator has passed away.
Violinist and conductor James M. Orent passed away of sudden heart failure after parachute jumping, one of his favorite hobbies.
Former concertmaster of Poland’s Sinfonia Varsovia and professor of violin at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, Jan Stanienda died.
Composer Carlisle Floyd, one of America’s most influential creators in opera, passed away.
Conductor Michael Renzi, longtime music director of the TV show “Sesame Street,” and passed away following a short illness.
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