Russell Dagon, principal clarinet of the Milwaukee Symphony 1969-99, has died aged 83.
Before Milwaukee, he played in the Buffalo and Rochester Philharmonics and the Syracuse Symphony.
He was professor of clarinet at Northwestern University.
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He will be missed. Quite influential in the world of pedagogy and had a long career in Milwaukee (which falls in the shadow of Chicago).
It is true that Milwaukee “falls in the shadow of Chicago.” It is closer in distance, for instance, than Philadelphia is to NYC and connected by freeways, trains, buses, air and more. This has been good (mostly) and also bad (the CSO probably held back development of the MSO). Lots of people in Chicago, and especially Northern Illinois, are closer to Milwaukee than Chicago. It also means that the MSO has a vast pool of talent at its doorstep (like this late maestro) so concerts are at a high level. Edo de Waart, for instance, conducts in both cities. It also means that people from Illinois attend those concerts which are certainly much cheaper than the CSO concerts (and probably just as good). Indeed, many people from Chicago have either moved to Milwaukee or have a second home there. This also makes fundraising easier. It also makes selling tickets in Chicago possible for the MSO: both cities have other excellent art institutions that can also be enjoyed. It should be noted that the MSO broadcasts its performances on the WFMT network, Chicago, and reaches millions pf ears.
I’m sad to read this. Russell Dagon was one of the many fine musicians who came to Milwaukee as part of the “new broom that sweeps clean” that the late Kenneth Schermerhorn brought about when he became the new Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony in 1968. There were a few very able talents already in the orchestra, some capable but not virtuoso players some of whom found themselves suddenly demoted to back desks, assuming they elected to stay, and yes a fair number of tired old hacks who were forced out, people who felt entitled to their positions because they’d been part of the various abortive attempts at forming a Milwaukee Symphony or Milwaukee Philharmonic dating back to the 1920s and continuing into the 1950s (those attempts in the face of open opposition from the monied subscribers to the Chicago Symphony’s ten-concert series of concerts in Milwaukee).
Feelings were hurt due to Schermerhorn’s actions, because some of the veteran members had become audience favorites, but the sudden improvements in the abilities of the orchestra, and Dagon’s clarinet hardly the least of those improvements, were there for all to hear. The version of the MSO that Schermerhorn found when he arrived would never have been capable of the Samuel Barber Symphony No. 1 that the MSO recorded for Vox under Schermerhorn, or of getting the rave reviews the MSO received when they first played Carnegie Hall under Schermerhorn.
Even now the abrupt nature of that great leap forward is striking to recall. Few orchestras have changed so much, so fast. And most of the Schermerhorn-era appointments, such as Dagon, proved to be very durable, well into the eras of his successors who of course had their own ideas about personnel.
Schermerhorn was a symphonic genius who does not get the credit he deserves.
He was a great player and a true colleague.
The MSO has an outstanding clarinet player now: Todd Levy. He teaches as well. He is a Juilliard grad and also plays with Santa Fe Opera.
It seems they have done well to develop great clarinetists. The player before him, Kyle Knox, came down with a rare illness that prevents him from playing much but is now a fine conductor.
I wrote my Concerto for Clarinet, Percussion, and Strings for Russ Dagon, who played the hell out of it. I am deeply saddened. He was great man of music, and a perfectly nice guy.
Russell and I played together for 2.5 years starting in the fall of 1956 at Purdue Univ. in the Symphonic band and the Wind Symphony. The front row clarinet had 3 from LaPorte IN (John Schumn, Don Porter, & me, Roger Smith) and Russ from Joliet IL. I remember Russ using a Woodwind G8 mouthpiece and being better than any of us! He later moved to a Pyne Ck and told me his students at Northwestern also used the Bn and M. My most vivid memory is one of awe when he “took off” on the 2nd page of the Russian Easter Overture. He was also very proud(2004 email) of his son who then was a manager on the building of a Universal Theme Park in Shanghai. Russ said that the son was a much better engineering student than he was at Purdue. Going back to Mp. (email quote) “I just tend to perform on what works best for me and let the design of them to people like Jim(Pyne)”
I was telling my family about Russ this afternoon after they gave me a short concert. They had heard him on YouTube. I was shocked to find his obit. I went to Joliet Township High and graduated with this great guy. Always nice, always a gentleman. We always had championship bands at JT and he was in one of them. Enjoyed a little time talking with him 15 years ago, at our 50th. Love of family, love of music. His friends will miss him. Nikki DeMarco Hrvatin.