RIP (January - June, 2014)

A number of deaths that I missed:

• Claudio Abbado, revered conductor. I  never saw Abbado live and have only a couple of his recordings, so no personal connection here, but he was tireless and much-loved across the musical spectrum, because he was a passionate champion of new music as well as old.
• Gerd Albrecht, controversial conductor
• Rafael Frubeck de Burgos, beloved conductor. Missed my chance to see him this season in SF, his first appearance here in decades.
• Lee Hyla, adored composer. He was a figure at Brandeis for a while when I was a student there - I remember seeing him in Slosberg Music Center - and it's my loss that I didn't get to know him then. NEC remembers him, as does his student, composer Liz White.
• Elodie Lauten, composer. Also read Kyle Gann's tribute to her.