Musicians are banned from conductor’s funeral

Enrique Batiz died last week in his home country Mexico at the age of 82. In a highly productive life, he founded a national orchestra and established an international career.

But his life was not without conflict.

This weekend, his family have posted a notice, naming 13 musicians who are prohibited from attending his funeral. The reason? Owing to circumstances known to everyone, his family and friends respectfully request that the following persons abstain from attending the funeral and the burial:

Among those banned are Sabina Laurain, principal flute of the Mexico state symphony orchestra, and Asaf Kolerstein, the principal cello.

This is a pathetic situation. If music cannot heal human conflict at the end of life, what on earth is the point of dedicating one’s life to it?