Israeli conductor dies in US
UncategorizedThe family of Yaakov Bergman posted news of his death last night.
Yaki was 78 and had been in intensive care at Portland’s Providence St. Vincent Medical Center after suffering a heart attack. He was latterly chief conductor of Portland Chamber Orchestra and the Walla Walla Symphony
Tim Page writes: ‘A fine conductor, a terrific guy, took a lot of Mannes kids through the Mozart Requiem in the spring of 1977 and showed us how it all worked. An indelible experience.’
Yaaki was a musician of good will and great spirit. There are definitely Israeli roots there, but I think it should be noted that he was music director of the Walla Walla orchestra for 36 years. He and his wife Joan worked with musical institutions in and around New York and Westchester for quite a few decades. I was honored to work with him.
I was very saddened to read the death of Yaaki Bergman. I got to first know him when he was a member of a Kibbutz, when I was part of a visiting camp of a youth group. He was noted as a handsome husky teenager who also played the violin and I followed him in the group rehearsals in the music room in Netzer Sireni, where he instantly left with me a long lasting musical impression. We stayed in touch, meeting later in the music academy in Jerusalem and then, later in NYC. I then heard about his nomination to the Walla Walla Orchestra and later got to know his wife Joan. I send my condolences to his family, members of his orchestras, and the community enlarge who enjoyed from his music. May his legacy live on.