From Alan Watkins (on orchestralist):

 

I record the death a few days ago at the Mount Sinai Hospice NY of the timpanist and percussionist Michael Aaronson after a long battle against serious illness.

 

While probably not well known in “name” terms he was a significant timpanist and percussionist in the busy New York scene for over forty years and played across a very wide range of music from full symphony to Broadway and pretty much everywhere in between.

 

He is known to his colleagues as an expert on timpani heads and mallets and was, at one time, involved with helping Ludwig design timp heads which were, then, a significant improvement on what was currently on the market.

 

He was a graduate of Juilliard where he studied timpani under Saul Goodman.  He had battled serious illness for sometime with his usual built in optimism.

 

He was the “first choice extra” for the New York Philharmonic for a long time and can be heard on Bernstein’s recordings of the Mahler symphonies for Deutsche Grammophon.

 

He was regularly consulted by timpanists well outside America for his views on all manner of matters concerning the kettledrums.

 

RIP and condolences to his family.

bernstein children

 

 

Robert Vernon, the longest serving string pprincipal in the annals of the Cleveland Orchestra, will retire in mid-2016 after 40 years as principal viola. His record (below) is phenomenal. His departure is part of an accelerating veterans march out of the elite ensemble.

robert vernon

  • He has performed in more than 5,000 concerts with The Cleveland Orchestra.
  • As soloist, he has appeared in 17 different works in more than 120 concerts at home in Severance Hall.  He has appeared as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra in Carnegie Hall on three separate occasions, as well as performing as soloist at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Boston’s Symphony Hall.  Additionally, he has appeared as soloist on two United States tours and one European tour.
  • He has recorded more than 300 works with The Cleveland Orchestra, virtually the entire standard repertoire, for five different record labels.
  • He has made numerous solo recordings, including Berlioz’s Harold in Italy, Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante, Strauss’s Don Quixote, and Schoenfield’s Viola Concerto, as well as numerous chamber music recordings.
  • photo: Roger Mastroianni

The Boston Globe reports the death of William Thomas McKinley, 76. He was a former head of jazz at the New England Conservatory. Obituary here.

WilliamThomasMcKinley_1

The indefatigable Sir Neville Marriner has been awarded an honorary doctorate of the Music Academy in Kraków, where he is conducting Michael Tippett’s concerto for double strings orchestra. Neville is 91 next month.

neville marriner 90

Apparently, someone applauded too soon. The conductor got annoyed. A ruckus developed in the audience. Story here.

Thielemann.Christian

The Latvian conductor was named Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres by the French culture minister Fleur Pellerin after a Concertgebouw performance in Paris.

jansons french

It so happens the Orchestre de Paris is seeking a chief conductor.