Mezzo-soprano Anna Ringart has died at the age of 86. The Opéra de Paris announced the news on Feb. 24, 2024. Ringart studied singing in Germany and Italy and made her debut in Lübeck, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg. She was brought to the Paris Opera by Rolf Liebermann where for 17 years she participated in numerous productions with prestigious directors. Among the {…}
Conductor Cliff Colnot has died at the age of 76 after a long illness. The orchestra announced the news, noting that he had passed on Feb. 12, 2024 in Chicago. Throughout his career with the CSO, he served in numerous capacities, most notably as a conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the MusicNOW series for more than 20 {…}
Alexcandru Moisiuc has died at the age of 62. The bass died in Timişoara, Romania on Feb. 20, 2024. Born in Bucharest, Moisiuc completed his violin studies at the Enescu University of Music. He followed that by studying opera at the Porumbescu Music Academy in 1980. In 1984, Moisiuc made his debut at the Bucharest National Opera in “Werther,” where {…}
Scottish conductor Stewart Robertson has died at the age of 75. Born on May 22, 1948, in Glasgow, Scotland, he attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and Bristol University. He studied piano in London with Denis Matthews and studied conducting with Otmar Suitner at the Mozarteum Academy and Hans Swarowsky at the Vienna Academy. Robertson became the {…}
On Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, Brazilian conductor Tullio Colacioppo died at the age of 89. Colacioppo began his career journey playing music at the age of six, studying piano, and at the age of 12 he began studying cello. However, he stopped playing cello after an accident where he lost the tip of one of his fingers. He went on to {…}
On Feb. 11, 2024, Romanian baritone Eduard Tumagian died at the age of 82 in Basel, Switzerland. Born in Bucharest in 1942, Tumagian studied at the Conservatory of Music “Porumbescu.” He went on to make his operatic debut in Bucharest and made his international debut after winning several singing competitions. Tumagian went on to join the Opéra of the Rhine {…}
On Feb. 6 2024, Legendary conductor Seiji Ozawa passed away in Tokyo. He was 88. Born on Sept. 1, 1935, in Shenyang, China, Ozawa studied piano at a young age and then conducting (under Hideo Saito) in Japan. He had an international breakthrough when he won the First Prize at the International Competition of Orchestra Conductors held in Besançon, France in {…}
Musician Thomas Muraco has died. According to the Manhattan School of Music, where Muraco was a faculty member, the esteemed teacher and musician passed away on Feb. 3, 2024, after a sudden illness. He was surrounded by his sister Lorraine, partner Thomas, and close friends and colleagues. Muraco began his conducting career as an assistant to Leonard Bernstein, John Nelson, {…}
Soprano Riikka Hakola had died at the age of 61. According to reports, the soprano died on Feb. 5 of a brain tumor that was diagnosed last September. Born in 1962, Hakola went on to study and graduate from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and continued her studies in London, Berlin, New York, and Milan. She had a big break {…}
Soprano Wilhelmenia Fernandez has died at the age of 75. Born in Philadelphia in 1949, Fernandez studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Vocal Arts and later at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She went on to make her operatic debut in Porgy and Bess at the Houston Grand Opera and later toured the production in the {…}
Polish composer, pianist, and organist Romuald Twardowski died on Jan. 13, 2024. He was 93. Born on June 17, 1930, Twardowski studied the violin during the years of occupation and World War II. He started to study piano and organ after the war and began playing organ in several Vilnius churches. He went on to study piano and composition at {…}