Tag Archives: guitarist

September 7: On This Day in Music

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• 1920 ~ Al Caiola, Musician, guitarist

• 1921 ~ Arthur Ferrante, Pianist, duo: Ferrante and Teicher

• 1924 ~ Hugh Aitkin, American composer

• 1929 ~ “Sonny” (Theodore) Rollins, American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, awarded Guggenheim Fellowship in 1972

• 1936 ~ Buddy Holly (Charles Hardin Holley), American rock-and-roll singer and guitarist with The Crickets

• 1940 ~ Artie Shaw and his orchestra recorded Temptation on the Victor label.

• 1951 ~ Chrissie Hynde, Guitarist, singer, songwriter with The Pretenders

• 1972 ~ Curtis Mayfield earned a gold record for his Superfly album, from the movie of the same name. The LP contained the hits, Freddie’s Dead and Superfly. Both songs were also million sellers.

• 1975 ~ Steve Anderson set a record for picking a guitar. Anderson, 22, picked for 114 hours, 7 minutes, breaking the old record by over four hours.

• 2001 ~ Igor Buketoff, an American conductor who specialized in Russian music and contemporary opera, died at the age of 87. Buketoff was best known for his orchestration of the first act of Rachmaninoff’s unfinished opera, Monna Vanna. Buketoff led the Philadelphia Orchestra in the world premiere in 1984. Buketoff also was recognized for restoring folk texts to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. Buketoff earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Juilliard School, and later directed the choral departments there and at Adelphi College and Columbia University. He won the first Alice Ditson Award for outstanding American conductors in 1941. He won it again in 1967. In 1959, Buketoff established the World Music Bank – now called the International Contemporary Music Exchange – to promote modern orchestral music.

• 2001 ~ Stelios Kazantzidis, a legendary Greek folk singer with a career spanning more than half a century, died at the age of 70. His popularity crossed generations and his music reflected the joys, sorrows and battles of Greece, according to MBI, his recording company. Kazantzidis’ popularity was carried beyond Greek borders by immigrants to such countries as the United States, Canada and Australia, which he often visited. He abandoned the night club scene in 1965 and would only have contact with the public through recordings after that. During his prolific career, he released more than 120 albums. In a letter to the singer shortly before his death, Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos said Kazantzidis occupied an “unrivaled” chapter in the history of Greek music.

September 6: On This Day in Music

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• 1781 ~ Vincent Novello, English music publisher, organist and composer

• 1882 ~ John Powell, American pianist and composer

• 1899 ~ Billy Rose (Rosenberg), producer, author, songwriter

• 1923 ~ William Kraft, American percussionist, composer and conductor

• 1928 ~ Evgeny Svetlanov, Russian conductor and composer

• 1937 ~ Benny Goodman and his orchestra recorded “Sugar Foot Stomp” on Victor Records. The tune was a Fletcher Henderson arrangement.

• 1944 ~ Roger Waters, Musician: bass, songwriter with Pink Floyd

• 1948 ~ Claydes (Charles) Smith, Guitarist with Kool & The Gang

• 1954 ~ Banner Thomas, Bass with Molly Hatchet

• 1958 ~ Georgia Gibbs sang “The Hula-Hoop Song” on “The Ed Sullivan Show”. It was the first national exposure for the Hula-Hoop craze. Many people recorded the song to capitalize on the fad, including Teresa Brewer and Betty Johnson. Like sometimes happens with fads, these songs didn’t become very popular. The Hula-Hoop craze lasted a bit longer…

• 1961 ~ Paul Waaktaar, Guitarist, singer with a-ha

• 1975 ~ Glen Campbell hit #1 on the “Billboard” pop music chart with “Rhinestone Cowboy”. It had reached the top position on the country chart on August 23rd.

• 1976 ~ Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were reunited by Frank Sinatra – after 20 years of going their separate ways. The former comedy team warmly met each other again during a surprise visit by Martin to Lewis’s annual “Labor Day Telethon” for Muscular Dystrophy.

• 1984 ~ Country-music star Ernest Tubb died this day, at the age of 70. Tubb was from Crisp, Texas and was known as the ‘Texas Troubadour’. He patterned his unique style after Jimmie Rodgers. Tubb recorded “I’m Walking the Floor Over You” and sold more than three million copies of the tune. “Blue Christmas”, “I Love You Because”, “Missing In Action” and “Thanks a Lot” were also classics made famous by Tubb. Other recording artists as diverse as The Andrews Sisters, Loretta Lynn and Red Foley recorded with Tubb. His 1979 album, “The Legend and the Legacy”, was a top-ten hit. Tubb was a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1943 and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1965.

• 1984 ~ Ginger Rogers was in Buffalo, NY for a homecoming at Shea’s Theatre. The star of so many great motion pictures, Rogers had played the Shea 55 years earlier.

• 1986 ~ Bananarama hit the top spot on the pop music charts with “Venus”. The tune had also been a number one hit for the Dutch group, The Shocking Blue (2/07/70).

• 1997 ~ The Westminster Abbey funeral for Diana, Princess of Wales, was an extraordinary event, marked by numerous poignant moments: The people sobbing and throwing flowers at the funeral cortege winding through the streets of London. Her sons, walking behind her casket with their heads bowed. And Diana’s brother, who during his funeral oration took aim at the media, who he said made the princess “the most hunted person of the modern age.” Elton John sang a rewritten version of “Candle in the Wind” to “England’s rose”. The song was originally a tribute to film legend Marilyn Monroe, whose own tragic life, like Diana’s, ended at the age of just 36.

• 2002 ~ Rafael Druian, a violinist and conductor who served as concertmaster of four American orchestras, died at the age of 80. Druian’s lengthy career spanned many roles – performer, conductor and teacher. He was the concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Born in Vologda, Russia, Druian grew up in Havana, Cuba and began his musical training at an early age. He came to Philadelphia when he was 10 to audition for Leopold Stokowski, who recommended him for a scholarship at the Curtis School of Music. He graduated from Curtis in 1942 and served in the United States Army for four years and played in the army band. During his career, Druian appeared on some groundbreaking recordings of lesser-known violin works. In the 1950s he made recordings of Block, Janácek and Enesco. After working with orchestras around the country, his final concertmaster position was at the Philharmonic from 1971 to 1974. When he finished there he taught at Boston University and the Curtis Institute of Music.

• 2007 ~ Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor, died at the age of 71

August 30: On This Day in Music

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• 1842 ~ (Victor) Alphonse Duvernoy, French pianist and composer. His works include operas, various pieces for piano and orchestra, chamber music, songs and piano music (including a set of 100 studies).

• 1853 ~ Percy Goetschius, American music teacher and critic

• 1919 ~ Kitty Wells (Muriel Ellen Deason),‘The Queen of Country Music’, Country Music Hall of Fame, married to Johnny Wright

• 1922 ~ Regina Resnik, American mezzo-soprano

• 1922 ~ The New Orleans Rhythm Kings recorded Tiger Rag, one of the most familiar ragtime jazz tunes ever. It was released on the General record label.

• 1935 ~ John Phillips, Singer with The Mamas & The Papas, actress MacKenzie Phillips’ father

• 1941 ~ John McNally, Singer, guitarist with The Searchers

• 1945 ~ Van Morrison, Irish blues-rock singer, songwriter and instrumentalist

• 1968 ~ The Beatles recorded their first songs for their own Apple label. The initial session included the big hits Revolution and Hey Jude.

• 1968 ~ The stars came out for charity as John and Yoko Lennon hosted the One on One concert in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Among the music greats appearing were Stevie Wonder and Roberta Flack. Over $250,000 was raised to aid mentally retarded children.

• 1984 ~ Beatles fans paid $271,180 dollars for memorabilia at an auction in London, England. An unpublished manuscript by John Lennon brought the largest amount – $23,056. A snare drum belonging to Ringo Starr brought $1,440.

August 24: On This Day in Music

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• 1837 ~ Théodore Dubois, French organist and composer

• 1856 ~ Felix Mottl, Austrian conductor, composer and arranger

• 1919 ~ Neils Viggo Bentzon, Danish composer

• 1924 ~ Louis Teicher, Pianist with the duo, Ferrante and Teicher

• 1938 ~ David Freiberg, Bass guitar with Jefferson Starship

• 1938 ~ Mason Williams, Guitarist, Emmy Award-winning writer

• 1941 ~ Ernest Wright, Singer with Little Anthony and the Imperials

• 1943 ~ John Cipollina, Guitarist with Quicksilver Messenger Service

• 1944 ~ Jim Brady, Singer with The Sandpipers

• 1945 ~ Ken Hensley, Musician, guitar, keyboard, composer, with Uriah Heep

• 1955 ~ Jeffrey Daniel, Singer with Shalamar

• 1969 ~ Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant premiered in both New York and Los Angeles.

• 1979 ~ B.B. King celebrated his 30th year in show business at a special celebration held at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.

• 1985 ~ Huey Lewis and The News reached the top. The Power of Love was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks.

August 19: On This Day in Music

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• 1881 ~ Georges Enesco, Rumanian composer, violinist and conductor

• 1918 ~ Sgt. Irving Berlin’s musical about army life in World War I opened at the Century Theatre in New York City. Yip Yip Yaphank included songs, such as Mandy and Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning.

• 1939 ~ Ginger (Peter) Baker, Trumpeter, drummer with Cream

• 1939 ~ The Dick Jurgens Orchestra recorded Day Dreams Come True at Night on Okeh Records. Eddy Howard was the vocalist on the piece. It became Jurgens’ theme song.

• 1940 ~ Johnny Nash, American pop-reggae singer, songwriter and guitarist

• 1943 ~ Billy J. Kramer (William Ashton), Singer with The Dakotas

• 1945 ~ Ian Gillan, Singer with Deep Purple

• 1947 ~ Gerard Schwarz, American trumpeter and conductor

• 1951 ~ John Deacon, Bass with Queen, score of Flash Gordon

• 1964 ~ The Beatles began their first North American concert tour. They would visit 26 cities.

• 1972 ~ NBC-TV presented The Midnight Special for the first time. John Denver was the host for the first show. Wolfman Jack was the show’s announcer. The Midnight Special proved to be a ratings success.

• 1991 ~ Richard Maltby passed away. He was an American musician, conductor, arranger and bandleader.

• 2001 ~ Singer Betty Everett, whose recording of The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) made Billboard’s Top 10 in 1964, died Sunday. She was 61.

Everett is remembered primarily for one huge hit song in the 1960s, but she also recorded many other songs and was recognized as one of the top soul singers of her time.

Starting at age 9, Everett played the piano and sang in church. She continued to sing in gospel choirs before moving to Chicago in 1957, where she recorded a string of hits on local record labels such as C.J. Cobra and OneDerful that included I’ll Be There and I’ve Got a Claim On You.

Everett signed a contract in the early 1960s with VeeJay, a record label that was then issuing recordings by The Beatles.
Everett recorded The Shoop Shoop Song in the spring of 1964, and it soared to Billboard’s Top 10.

The song was later recorded by Cher in the soundtrack for the 1990 movie Mermaids and more recently by Vonda Shepard of the Fox television show Ally McBeal.

• 2017 ~ Bea Wain, American singer and radio host (Deep Purple, Heart and Soul), died at the age of 100

 

August 18: On This Day in Music

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• 1750 ~ Antonio Salieri, Italian composer and conductor
More information about Salieri

• 1873 ~ Leo Slezak, Austrian tenor

• 1907 ~ Howard Swanson, American composer

• 1916 ~ Moura Lympany, Saltash England, pianist

• 1937 ~ The first FM radio construction permit was issued. It went to W1X0J (later to become WGTR) in Boston, MA. The station went on the air two years later.

• 1939 ~ Johnny Preston, Singer

• 1944 ~ Carl Wayne, Singer with The Move

• 1949 ~ Ralph Flanagan and his orchestra recorded their first tune on wax, You’re Breaking My Heart.

• 1950 ~ Dennis Elliott, Drummer with Foreigner

• 1957 ~ Ron Strykert, Guitarist with Men at Work

• 1958 ~ Perez Prado, the ‘Mambo King’, received one of the first gold records awarded by the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA). The single, Patricia, was certified as having sold over one million copies.

• 1973 ~ Jazz drummer Gene Krupa played for the final time with members of the original Benny Goodman Quartet. Krupa, a jazz and big band legend, died on October 6, 1973.

• 1981 ~ Robert Russell Bennett passed away

• 1981 ~ Rex Harrison brought the award-winning My Fair Lady back to Broadway as he recreated the role of Henry Higgins. The play had originally opened in 1956.

• 2001 ~ Jack Elliott, a composer and conductor who worked on numerous hit television shows and movies, died of a brain tumor. He was 74.
Elliott came to Los Angeles in the early 1960s to work as a musical arranger on Judy Garland’s television show.
He gained a reputation as one of the top composers and arrangers in Hollywood. If a television show was popular in the 1970s, it most likely had the music of Elliott and his frequent collaborator Allyn Ferguson. They worked on such shows as: “Police Story,” “Barney Miller,” “Starsky and Hutch,” “Charlie’s Angels” and “The Love Boat.”
He also worked in films and teamed with director Carl Reiner on several projects, including: “The Comic,” “The Jerk” and “Oh God.”
Elliott served as music director for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, writing the music for the opening and closing ceremonies as well as conducting the orchestra.

• 2003 ~ Tony Jackson, bass player for The Searchers, a Liverpool band best known for the 1964 song “Needles and Pins,” died at the age of 63.
Jackson sang and played bass for The Searchers, a Liverpool band that briefly rivaled The Beatles for popularity in the early 1960s. “Needles and Pins” made the top 20 in the United States after it was released in 1964.
Jackson was lead singer on the band’s first two British hits, “Sweets for My Sweet” and “Sugar and Spice,” but played bass only on the enduring “Needles and Pins” and “Don’t Throw Your Love Away.”
Feeling sidelined, Jackson quit the group in 1964. His follow-up band, Tony Jackson and the Vibrations, failed to score a hit and he drifted out of the music business.

• 2004 ~ Elmer Bernstein, American movie music composer (The Magnificent Seven, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Age Of innocence, Thoroughly Modern Mille), died at the age of 82

August 17: On This Day in Music

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1686 ~ Nicola Porpora, Italian composer

• 1838 ~ A total of 138 singing teachers traveled to Boston, MA to attend the first music convention.

• 1903 ~ Abram Chasins, American pianist, composer, writer and educator

• 1909 ~ Larry Clinton, Bandleader, composer

• 1920 ~ Georgia Gibbs (Fredda Lipson or Gibson), ‘Her Nibs’, Singer

• 1932 ~ Duke Pearson, Composer, bandleader, pianist

• 1947 ~ Gary Talley, Guitarist with Big Star as well as The Box Tops

• 1948 ~ John Cheek, American bass-baritone

• 1953 ~ Kevin Rowland, Guitarist, singer with Dexy’s Midnight Runners

• 1954 ~ The Newport Jazz Festival opened at the Newport Casino in Rhode Island. It featured jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan and Ella Fitzgerald.

• 1955 ~ Kevin Moulding, Songwriter, singer, bass with XTC

• 1958 ~ Belinda Carlisle, Guitarist, singer with The Go-Go’s

• 1965 ~ Steve Gorman, Drummer with The Black Crowes

• 1970 ~ Donnie Wahlberg, Singer with New Kids on the Block and brother of Marky Mark

• 1983 ~ Ira Gershwin, U.S. lyricist and elder brother of George, died in Beverly Hills at the age of 86.

• 1984 ~ On this, the first night of his Breaking Hearts Tour, Elton John announced that he was retiring from touring.

• 1990 ~ Pearl Mae Bailey passed away. She had entertained two generations with her stage and record performances.

August 12: On This Day in Music

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Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

 

 

 

• 1644 ~ Heinrich Biber, Bohemian violinist and composer

OCMS   1859 ~ Katharine Lee Bates
Listen to Katharine Lee Bates’ music, America the Beautiful
Read about Katharine Lee Bates
More information about Bates

• 1919 ~ Michael Kidd (Milton Greenwald), Choreographer, dancer

• 1926 ~ Joe Jones, Singer, pianist for B.B. King

• 1927 ~ Porter Wagoner, Singer, songwriter

• 1929 ~ “Buck” (Alvis Edgar) Owens, American country-music guitarist, singer and songwriter

• 1941 ~ Jennifer Warnes, Singer

• 1944 ~ Peter Hofmann, German tenor and rock singer

• 1949 ~ Mark Knopfler, Musician, guitar, songwriter, singer with Dire Straits

• 1954 ~ Pat Metheny, Musician, jazz-guitar

• 1959 ~ Suzanne Vega, Musician, folk-guitar, singer, songwriter

• 1961 ~ Roy Hay, Musician, guitar with Culture Club

• 1966 ~ The last tour for The Beatles began at the International Amphitheater in Chicago, and John Lennon apologized for boasting that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ. London’s Catholic Herald said Lennon’s comment was “arrogant … but probably true.”

• 1967 ~ Fleetwood Mac made their stage debut at the National Blues and Jazz Festival in Great Britain.

• 1992 ~ John Cage, American composer (Imaginary Landscape No 1/O’O), died of a stroke at the age of 79

August 3: On This Day in Music

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Monday Music Quiz

 

 

 

 

• 1778 ~ La Scala, one of the world’s great opera houses, opened on this day. They premiered William Tell by Gioachino Rossini

• 1823 ~ Francisco Asenjo Babieri, Spanish composer

• 1884 ~ Louis Gruenberg, Polish-born American composer

• 1902 ~ Ray Bloch, Conductor and orchestra leader

• 1917 ~ Charlie Shavers, Trumpeter with the John Kirby Sextet and composer of Undecided

• 1918 ~ Les Elgart, Lead trumpet, bandleader for Les and (brother) Larry Elgart

• 1921 ~ Richard Adler, Broadway Composer, lyricist

• 1926 ~ Tony Bennett (Benedetto), Grammy Award-winning American singer of popular music

• 1941 ~ Beverly Lee, Singer with The Shirelles

• 1949 ~ B.B. (Morris) Dickerson, Bass and singer with War

• 1951 ~ Johnny Graham, Guitarist with Earth, Wind and Fire

• 1963 ~ The Beatles made their final appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England. The group was about to leave its hometown behind for unprecedented worldwide fame and fortune.

• 1963 ~ The Beach Boys’ Surfer Girl, was released on Capitol Records. It became one of their biggest hits. Surfer Girl made it to number seven on the hit music charts  on September 14, 1963

• 1963 ~ Comedian Allan Sherman’s summer camp parody, Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp) was released on Warner Brothers Records. The melody was based on the Dance of the Hours from Ponchielli’s opera La Giaconda. This dance was also performed in the original Disney movie Fantasia.

• 1971 ~ Paul McCartney formed a new band called Wings. Joining McCartney in the group were Denny Laine, formerly of The Moody Blues, Denny Seilwell and McCartney’s wife, Linda.

• 1998 ~ Alfred Schnittke, one of the most original and influential composers to emerge from the Soviet Union, died. He was 63.

• 2001 ~ Jeanne Loriod, the leading performer of an electronic instrument used in film scores and symphonic works to produce mysterious glassy tones, died in southern France. She was 73. Loriod, who played the ondes martenot – invented by the French musician Maurice Martenot – died of a stroke in Juan-les-Pins, Le Monde newspaper reported.

She was the younger sister of pianist Yvonne Loriod, who was married to composer Olivier Messiaen. The three musicians often collaborated.

The ondes martenot – which translates as “Martenot waves” – produces electronic waves from a system of transistors, a keyboard and a ribbon attached to a ring on the performer’s forefinger.

Loriod’s career took her all over the world. She performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic, among others.

Composers such as Tristan Murail, Jacques Charpentier and Michael Levinas wrote works for her, according to Le Monde. Loriod had also been planning to collaborate with the pop group Radiohead, the paper wrote.

• 2008 ~ Louis Teicher died at 83.  He was half of the piano duo Ferrante & Teicher, which toured for four decades and released 150 albums, some as suitable for elevators as for concert halls.

• 2016 ~ Ricci Martin, an entertainer/musician son of Dean Martin, died at the age of 62.

July 15: On This Day in Music

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Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

 

 

• 1738 ~ Antonio Maria Pacchioni, Composer, died at the age of 84

• 1779 ~ Clement Moore, Lyricist, author of ’Twas the Night before Christmas (A Visit from St. Nicholas) born

• 1782 ~ Farinelli, Italian singer, died at the age of 77

• 1782 ~ Richard Wainwright, Composer, died at the age of 33

• 1789 ~ Jacques Duphly, Composer, died at the age of 74

• 1795 ~ Marseillaise became the French national anthem

• 1798 ~ Gaetano Pugnani, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1810 ~ Jean-Baptiste Rey, Composer, died at the age of 75

• 1854 ~ Wincenty Studzinski, Composer, died at the age of 39

• 1857 ~ Carl Czerny, Austrian pianist and Composer, died at the age of 66
More information on Czerny

• 1905 ~ Dorothy Fields born, Composer, lyricist with Cy Coleman of Sweet Charity and Seesaw; with Jimmy McHugh – I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, I’m in the Mood for Love and On the Sunny Side of the Street. She was the daughter of comedian Lew Fields

• 1913 ~ Cowboy (Lloyd) Copas born. He was a country singer who was killed in a plane crash with singer, Patsy Cline

• 1915 ~ Ludwik Grossman, Composer, died at the age of 80

• 1929 ~ Hugo von Hofmannstahl, Austrian author and librettist, died. He was best known for his collaboration with composer Richard Strauss for whom he wrote the libretto to the opera “Der Rosenkavelier.”

• 1930 ~ Leopold von Auer, Hungarian-American violinist, died

• 1933 ~ Julian Bream, British guitarist and lutenist

• 1934 ~ Harrison Birtwistle, British composer

• 1940 ~ Tommy Dee (Thomas Donaldson) Singer and record company executive

• 1942 ~ Glenn Miller and his band recorded the classic Jukebox Saturday Night for Victor Records.

 

• 1944 ~ Millie Jackson, Rhythm and Blues Singer

• 1945 ~ Peter Lewis, Guitarist, singer with Moby Grape

• 1946 ~ Linda Ronstadt, American singer of rock and popular music

• 1949 ~ “Miss Liberty” opened at Imperial Theater New York City for 308 performances

• 1952 ~ Singer Patti Page made her TV debut in a summer replacement series for Perry Como. The 15-minute program spotlighted Patti three times each week on CBS.

• 1959 ~ Ernest Bloch, Swiss-American Composer, died at the age of 78
More information about Bloch

• 1960 ~ Lawrence Mervil Tibbett, baritone, died after surgery at 63

• 1966 ~ Singer Percy Sledge earned a gold record for When a Man Loves A Woman. It was his only song to make it to number one (5/28/66) and the only one of five to break into the top ten.

• 1967 ~ “Sweet Charity” closed at Palace Theater New York City after 608 performances

• 1972 ~ Elton John landed at the top spot on the Billboard album chart for the first time as Honky Chateau made it to the top for a five-week stay.

• 1978 ~ Bob Dylan performed before the largest open-air concert audience (for a single artist). Some 200,000 fans turned out to hear Dylan at Blackbushe Airport in England.

• 1980 ~ Henri Martelli, Composer, died at the age of 85

• 1982 ~ Bill (William E.) Justis (Jr.) passed away

• 1983 ~ Linda Ronstadt debuted as Mabel “Pirates of Penzance”

• 1984 ~ John Lennon released I’m Stepping Out

• 2000 ~ Canadian baritone Louis Quilico, who sang many of the most famous opera roles, died after complications from surgery. He was 75.

• 2000 ~ Singer Paul Young, who found fame with the band Mike and the Mechanics, died from what might have been a heart attack at the age of 53. The band just finished recording their fifth album and had planned to tour Europe this month.

• 2001 ~ Denes Koromzay, a violist who helped found the Hungarian String Quartet, died at the age of 88. Koromzay studied at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest when composer Béla Bartók was on the faculty. Though trained as a violinist, Koromzay was the violist in the group that founded the Hungarian String Quartet in 1935. He remained with the famed ensemble until it disbanded in 1972. For the next seven years, he performed with the New Hungarian Quartet, an ensemble at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. Koromzay moved to Boulder in 1962, when the Hungarian String Quartet was named resident ensemble at the University of Colorado. He returned to the university to teach viola and coach chamber music in 1980. He retired from the school in 1996.