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IN MEMORIAM | Classical Music Deaths Of 2016

By Michael Vincent on December 28, 2016

Pierre Boulez (1952-2016)

For most of us, strolling through the daily headlines each morning included learning which of our cultural heroes have left us, and their work behind. The latest news (Christmas Day ) was that 80’s crooner George Michael died in his sleep – alone. Before him was Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Prince, Merle Haggard, Greg Lake, Leon Russell, John Berry, Maurice White and many others.

Sadly, the world of Classical music has not been immune.

Here is a list (as complete as we could make it) of classical musicians who have died in 2016.

In appreciation:

Pierre Boulez (90) — French composer and conductor
Marion Studholme (88) — British soprano
Bern Herbolsheimer (67) — American composer
Robert Tuggle (83) — American opera archivist
Jacques Brourman (84) — American conductor
Denise Duval (94) — French soprano
Leif Solberg (101) — Norwegian composer, organist
Aurèle Nicolet (90) — Swiss flautist
Carl David Hall (64) — American orchestral flautist
Saulius Sondeckis (87) — Lithuanian violinist and conductor
Ulf Söderblom (85) — Finnish conductor
Leslie Bassett (93) — American composer
Steven Stucky (66) — American composer
Piero Buscaroli (85) — Italian musicologist
Louis Lane (92) — American conductor
Rainer Mehne (68) — German orchestral violinist
Robert Baustian (94) — American opera conductor and teacher
Ove Verner Hansen (83) — Danish actor and opera singer
Gwyneth George (95) — Welsh cellist
Ralph Morton (67) — Australian composer, choral conductor, and organist
Pascal Bentoiu (88) — Romanian composer
Otto-Werner Mueller (89) — German-born American conductor and conducting instructor
Eri Klas (76) — Estonian conductor
Sherwood Mobley (59) — American timpanist and music administrator
Winfried Maczewski (74) — German-born chorus master, resident in The Netherlands
Zhou Xiaoyan (98) — Chinese vocal pedagogue and classical soprano
Nikolaus Harnoncourt (86) — Austrian conductor, cellist, and scholar
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (81) — British composer
Gegham Grigoryan (65) — Armenian opera singer
Bernard Lurie (82) — American orchestra leader (concertmaster)
Howard Cable* (95) — Canadian conductor, arranger, music director, composer, and radio and television producer
Royston Nash (82) — British conductor
Elsie Morison (91) — Australian soprano
Jeremy Siepmann (74) — American-born British pianist, teacher, writer, and broadcaster
Marcel Farago (92) — American orchestral cellist and composer
Alan Loveday (88) — New Zealand-born British violinist
Guy Woolfenden (79) — British composer
Brian Asawa (49) — American opera singer
George Pieterson (74) — Dutch orchestral clarinetist
Gabriele Sima (61) — Austrian mezzo-soprano
Dmytro Hnatyuk (91) — Ukrainian operatic baritone
Ursula Mamlok (93) — German-born American composer
Jane Little (87) — American orchestral double bassist
Huguette Dreyfus (87) — French harpsichordist
Joel Hastings* (46) — Canadian pianist
Gustav Meier (86) — Swiss-born American conductor
Phyllis Curtin (94) — American soprano
Rolf Schweizer (80) — German composer
J. Reilly Lewis (71) — American choral conductor and Baroque music specialist
Alberto Remedios (81) — British tenor
Anahid Ajemian (92) — Armenian-American violinist and champion of new music
Oleg Karavaychuk (88) — Soviet and Russian composer,
Peter Feuchtwanger (76) — German-born pianist and piano pedagogue resident in the UK
Harry Rabinowitz (100) — South African-born British conductor and composer
Charles Chaynes (90) — French composer
Edoardo Müller (78) — Italian conductor
Sue Ellen Page (67) — American conductor, composer, and teacher
Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (83) — Danish composer
Harry Halbreich (85) — Belgian musicologist
Inocente Carreño (96) —  Venezuelan composer
Veena Sahasrabuddhe (67) — Indian singer and composer
Peter Williams (78) — English harpsichordist
Vasyl Slipak (41) — Ukrainian opera singer
Franz Cibulka (69) — Austrian composer
David Patrick Gedge (77) — English organist
Edmund Battersby (67) — American pianist
Alirio Díaz (92) — Venezuelan classical guitarist
Gladys Nordenstrom (92) — American composer
Maralin Niska (89) — American soprano
Gregg Smith (84) — American choral conductor and composer
Stewart Pearce (65) — American opera administrator and developer of Tessitura
André Isoir (81) — French organist
Hiroko Nakamura (72) — Japanese classical pianist
Paul Robertson (63) — British violinist, leader of the Medici String Quartet
Einojuhani Rautavaara (87) — Finnish composer
Elena Doria (90) — American opera children’s chorus director
Seth Carlin (71) — American pianist and university professor
Peter Sadlo (54) — German percussionist and music teacher
Andre Hajdu (84) — Hungarian-born Israeli composer and ethnomusicologist
Patrice Munsel (91) — American soprano
Temple Painter (83) — American harpsichordist
Neil Black (84) — English oboist
Daniela Dessì (59) — Italian soprano
John Stenhouse (74) — British orchestral bass clarinetist
Raymond Daveluy* (89) — Canadian composer, organist, music educator and arts administrator
Johan Botha (51) — South African tenor
Kenneth van Barthold (88) — Engish pianist
Emilio Gravagno (82) — American orchestral double bassist
Sir Neville Marriner (92) — British conductor and violinist
Gegam Grigorian (65) — Armenian opera singer
Thomas Round (100) — British tenor
Marni Nixon (86) — American soprano
Pompeiu Hărășteanu (81) — Romanian opera singer
Robert Page (89) — American conductor
Anne Pashley (81) — British opera singer and Olympic athlete
Peter Allen* (96) — Canadian-born American radio announcer and past host of the Metropolitan Opera radio transmissions
Jean-Claude Risset (80) — French composer
John Del Carlo (61) — American bass-baritone
Roland Dyens (61) — Tunisian-born French guitarist
Zoltán Kocsis (64) — Hungarian pianist, conductor, and composer
George Reynolds (78) — British orchestral trumpeter
Jules Eskin (85) — American orchestral cellist
Pauline Oliveros (84) — American composer
Russell Oberlin (88) — American countertenor
Mark Taimanov (90) — Russian pianist and chess grandmaster
Donald Montanaro (82) — American orchestral clarinetist and music institute teacher
Gigliola Frazzoni (89) — Italian operatic soprano
Karel Husa (95) — Czech-born American composer
Heinrich Schiff (65) — Austrian cellist
Elliott Schwartz (80) — American composer
Miriam Pirazzini (98) — Italian soprano

*Canadian

(Did we leave any out? Please let us know in the comments section.)

Special thanks to Kirin Nielson for her help compiling this list.

#LUDWIGVAN

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Michael Vincent
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