The Vienna State Opera has announced the death of conductor Maksimilijan Cenčić, following a prolonged illness, at age 68. Born in 1951 in Rogaška Slatina, Slovenia, Cenčić studied in his early years with figures such as Kurt Masur, Igor Markewich, Carlo Sezzhi, and Piere Dervaux, among others. After graduating from the Akademie fur Music in Zagreb, Coatia, in 1976, he {…}
American soprano Arlene Saunders has passed away on April 17, 2020 at the age of 89, due to the coronavirus. Born on October 5, 1930 in Cleveland, Ohio, her professional debut came in 1958, when she played Rosalinde in “Die Fledermaus” with the National Opera Company. Three years later she made her New York debut as Giorgetta in “Il tabarro” {…}
The BBC Chorus has announced that chorus member William Noce has died at the age of 64. Noce was an IREX scholarship student at the Kodaly Institute in Kecskemet and went on to study voice at the Liszt Academy with Sylvia Sass and Yevgeni Nesterenko. He later studied with John Shirley-Quirk privately as baritone. He then gave his first Hungarian {…}
Composer Alexander Vustin has died from complications related to COVID-19. According to reports, the composer died on April 19, 2020 of Pneumonia at the age of 76. Born in Russia on April 24, 1943, Vustin studied composition with Grigory Frid at a regional music college and later with Vladimir Ferè at the Moscow Conservatory. Upon graduating in in 1969 he {…}
On April 15, 2020, English tenor Kenneth Woollam passed away at the age of 83. Born in Chester, England on January 16, 1937, Woollam studied at Chester Cathedral Choir School, where he became head chorister, before going on to the Royal Royal College of Music under Heddle Nash. From 1962 to 1964, Woollam sang with the Glyndebourne Festival chorus before {…}
Portland-based arts philanthropist Arlene Schnitzer has passed away on April 4, 2020. Born on January 10, 1929, Schnitzer grew up in a business setting as her parents were owners of a furniture store. At 20, Arlene married Harold Schnitzer of Schnitzer Steel Industries, who founded Harsch Investment Properties the following year. Over the decades, the couple donated tens of millions {…}
On April 15, 2020, Swedish mezzo-soprano Kerstin Meyer passed away, at the age of 92. Meyer is remembered as a leading mezzo during the 50s and 60s, singing with prominent companies throughout Europe. After graduating from Stockholm’s Royal College of Music in 1948, Meyer studied at the Opera School, where she won the Christine Nilsson Scholarship to fund studies in {…}
It has been announced that Russian composer Dmitri Smirnov has passed away on April 9, 2020, due to the coronavirus. Born on November 2, 1948 in Minsk, Belarus, Smirnov grew up in a family of opera singers, himself going on to study at the Moscow Conservatory from 1967 to 1972. As a composer, Smirnov penned two operas based on texts {…}
(Credit: Judydrucker.com) Impresaria Judy Drucker has died at the age of 91. According to her daughter Vicki Schwartz, she died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. A child prodigy, Drucker studied piano at the New York College of Music, and voice at the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music. Drucker went on to perform as a coloratura soprano with {…}
Tenor Robert Andreozzi died on March 30, 2020 at the age of 87. The tenor, who was born in La-Seyne-sur-Mer, France in 1932, studied at the conservatories in Toulouse and Paris. He made his professional debut in 1960 at the Théâtre Mogador in Paris and later made his debut at the Opéra-Comique where he went on to be a prominent {…}
(Credit: Cantakukuruz) Famed Hungarian maestro Zoltán Peskó passed away on March 31, 2020 at the age of 83 in Budapest. Born on Feb. 15, 1937 in Budapest, Peskó studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music before moving to Rome to work with Franco Ferraro; he also developed under the tutelage of Pierre Boulez in Switzerland. Between 1966-73 he was {…}