What killed a Cliburn winner?

The bullet in José Feghali’s head, as he lay in bed, leaves little doubt that his death was suicide.

Now, the music world is asking why. Friends, including a former housemate, tell us he was on medication for depression for many years and spoke freely about it.

The Dallas critic Scott Cantrell reports that Feghali’s career dried up after losing mainstream management and his playing became unreliable. ‘Critics heard a growing fussiness in his playing, and in more recent years worrying technical fallibility. I remember being surprised at all the wrong notes in a 2005 Mimir Festival performance of the Franck Violin Sonata. In the end, his was the only recognizable name in the roster of a small Fort Worth artist management.’

Was it a case of too much, too soon? Or just of the lack of a professional infrastructure to see him through the bad times?

José was well liked in the Texas music world, had many friends. None foresaw his tragic end.