March 2022 Obituaries
Our summary of those the
classical music world has lost this month
Here are brief details of some of the people lost to the classical music world during March 2022. May they rest in peace.
American composer Karl Korte died on 27 March, aged ninety-one.
New Zealand composer Lyell Cresswell passed away from liver cancer at his home in Edinburgh, UK on 20 March, aged seventy-seven.
Spanish tenor Bernabé Martí died in Barcelona on 18 March, aged ninety-three. Born Bernabé Martínez Remacha in Villarroya de la Sierra on 14 November 1928, he began his musical training playing sax in the local municipal band. Later he studied singing at the Madrid Royal Conservatory, at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, at Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena and privately with Mercedes Llopart in Milan. His international career was launched by positive reviews of his 1958 performance in Falla's La vida breve. He was also known as the husband of Montserrat Caballé.
Ukrainian ballet dancer Artem Datsyshyn passed away in hospital on 17 March after being severely wounded by Putin's Russian forces on 26 February. Born in Kherson on 26 January 1979, Artem Datsyshyn studied at the Kyiv Choreographic School and then toured internationally, appearing in ballets such as Giselle, Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake.
American singer and vocal coach Barbara Maier Gustern died in New York City on 15 March, aged eighty-seven, after suffering brain damage as a result of being pushed to the ground by a woman outside her apartment building in Manhattan. Born Barbara Joan Maier on 10 February 1935 in Boonville, Indiana, she studied at DePauw University and Columbia University. She taught at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. She and her husband sang in The Threepenny Opera at Ephrata Star Playhouse.
Venezuelan ballerina, ballet director, choreographer and dance teacher Nina Novak passed away on in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA on 15 March, aged ninety-four. She was born in Warsaw, Poland on 23 March 1927, and studied initially at the Warsaw Opera Ballet School. She danced in Poland, initially as a soloist with Polish Representative Ballet, but in the 1940s she left Poland for the USA, where she worked at Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo. When her own dancing career was over, she moved to Venezuela, opening her own ballet school.
Chinese composer Wu Zuqiang died in Beijing on 14 March, aged ninety-four.
Chinese tenor Li Guangxi passed away on 13 March in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, aged ninety-two, after suffering from a stroke. Born in Tianjin on 15 November 1929, he became interested in singing in his early teens. After an early career in mining to support his family after the death of his father, he worked at the Central Experimental Opera and Dance Theatre. In 1956 he made history by appearing in La traviata, the first classical opera to be performed in China. Later he performed in Eugene Onegin at the Bolshoi in Moscow.
Austrian composer, conductor and player of the clavichord, harpsichord and recorder, René Clemencic, died on 8 March, aged ninety-four. Born in Vienna on 27 February 1928 he studied at Vienna University and in France, Netherlands and West Germany. He founded two ensembles - Musica Antiqua, later known as Ensemble Musica Antiqua, to play early music on period instruments, and the Clemencic Consort. His compositions include the latin mass Missa Mundi (1981), music for the 1978 French drama film Molière and a series of chamber operas and oratorios, mostly for sirene Operntheater.
Dutch composer and organist Jan Welmers died on 7 March, aged eighty-four.
Chinese pianist, teacher and musical activist Zhou Guangren died at her home in Beijing on 7 March, aged ninety-three.
Welsh-born Canadian choral conductor Iwan Edwards passed away on 4 March 2022, aged eighty-four. Born on 5 October 1937, he studied violin at University College of Wales and moved to Montreal in 1965, teaching at Lachine High School (1965-79) Montreal's Fine Arts Core Education School (1979-90) and at McGill University's Faculty of Music (1900-2001), where he conducted the University Chorus and McGill Chamber Singers. He was later artistic director and conductor of the Canadian Chamber Choir and also conducted many other groups.
Posted 18 March 2022 and last updated 14 April 2022 by Keith Bramich
