May 2025 Obituaries
Our summary of some 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 May 2025. May they rest in peace. Please follow the links in this article or click on the images for further information.
Danish composer and music theorist Per Nørgård died peacefully in Copenhagen on 28 May 2025, aged ninety-two.
Per Nørgård (1932-2025). Photo © Lars Skaaning
Russian ballet dancer, ballet master, choreographer and teacher Yury Grigorovich died in Moscow on 19 May 2025, aged ninety-eight.
Yury Grigorovich (1927-2025) in 1979.
Photo: Bernard Gotfryd
Polish contralto Jadwiga Rappé died on 16 May 2025, aged seventy-three.
Jadwiga Rappé (1952-2025)
Peruvian tenor Luigi Alva died on 15 May 2025, aged ninety-eight.
Luigi Alva (1927-2025)
English conductor, bass, composer, arranger, editor and teacher Matthew Best died on 11 May 2025, aged sixty eight.
Matthew Best (1957-2025). Photo © 2010 Chris Gloag
Bangladeshi musicologist Mustafa Zaman Abbasi died at a hospital in Dhaka on 10 May 2025, aged eighty-eight.
Mustafa Zaman Abbasi (1936-2025)
British composer, conductor and priest Ronald Corp died in Bath on 7 May 2025, aged seventy-four.
Ronald Corp (1951-2025)
French oboist and conductor Victor Aviat died from a brain tumour in Berlin, Germany on 1 May 2025, aged forty-two.
Victor Aviat (1982-2025). Photo © Harald Hoffmann
Posted 18 May 2025 and last updated 29 May 2025
by Keith Bramich
