Friday, July 26, 2024

Today's Birthdays

John Field (1782-1837)
Franz Xaver Mozart (1791-1844)
Francesco Cilea (1866-1950)
Serge Koussevitsky (1874-1951)
Ernest Schelling (1876-1939)
Georges Favre (1905-1993)
Tadeusz Baird (1928-1981)
Alexis Weissenberg (1929-2012)
Anthony Gilbert (1934-2023)
Roger Smalley (1943-2015)
Mick Jagger (1943)
Kevin Volans (1949)
Angela Hewitt (1958)

and

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
Carl Jung (1875-1961)
Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973)
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)
Jean Shepherd (1921-1999)
Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)

Thursday, July 25, 2024

Today's Birthdays

Alfredo Casella (1883-1947)
Adolph "Bud" Herseth (1921-2013)
Maureen Forrester (1930-2010)

and

Eric Hoffer (1898-1983)
Elias Canetti (1905-1994)

and from The Writer's Almanac:

It was on this day in 1788 that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart entered into his catalog the completion of one of his most beloved works, Symphony Number 40 in G Minor (sometimes called “The Great G Minor Symphony”). It was written in the final years of Mozart’s life, when things were not going well. An infant daughter had died a few weeks earlier, he had moved into a cheaper apartment, and he was begging friends and acquaintances for loans. But in the summer of 1788, he wrote his last three symphonies: Symphony Number 39 in E-Flat, Symphony in G Minor, and the Jupiter symphony. It is not known for sure whether Mozart ever heard any of these symphonies performed.

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Rest in Peace: pianist Janet Coleman

I am very sad to relay this news about Janet Coleman, one of our very best pianists and wonderful human being. With condolences to her husband, Adam LaMotte.

Reprinted from YourOregonNews.com.

January 26, 1968 – July 6, 2024 - Janet Marie Coleman was born in Medford, Oregon, on January 26, 1968, the first child of John and Donna Coleman. She attended schools in Hillsboro, Linwood (KS), and Newberg, graduating from Newberg High school in 1986.

In her youth, with her family, Janet sang for seven years with the Coleman Family Singers, performing and ministering in prisons, churches, banquets, summer camps, and the Oregon State Fair,

High School activities included choir accompanist, cheerleader, and May Day Queen. She won many honors, awards, and competitions with her talent at the piano, including first place in the State of Oregon high school piano competition.

Janet earned her B.A. degree from Willamette University and an M.A. in piano performance from the University of Oregon where she was named Outstanding Chamber Musician.

She traveled in Europe, Central America, and across the U.S. both in solo performances and as accompanist. Her talents contributed to top awards in accompanying the well-known and the unknown.

Janet was employed by the music departments of Linfield and Pacific Universities; Portland State Opera Workshop; The Portland Opera; Eugene Opera; Miss America 2002 (Katie Harmon); Astoria Music Festival; and occasional pianist in the Oregon Symphony. She was known in music circles for her amazing sight-reading ability.

Janet’s beauty was both inside and out. She had a compassion for the less-fortunate, and a beautiful ability to know just what to do or say in every social situation.

Her father, John Coleman, preceded her in death. She is survived by her husband Adam LaMotte; her mother, Donna Coleman Comfort; two sisters, Donelle (Dean) Clark, and Julie Coleman; several aunts and uncles, nephews, nieces, and cousins.

Memorial service will be held at Zion Lutheran Church (301 S. River Street) in Newberg, Oregon, on Saturday, August 17, 2024, at 2:00 p.m.

Today's Birthdays

Adolphe Charles Adam (1803-1856)
Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)
Robert Farnon (1917-2005)
Ruggiero Ricci (1918-2012)
Guiseppe de Stefano (1921-2008)
Wilfred Josephs (1927-1997)
Peter Serkin (1947)
Philippe Hurel (1955)

and

Jonathan Newton (1725-1807)
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?)
Frank Wedekind (1864-1918)
Robert Graves (1895-1985)
John D. McDonald (1916-1986)

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Today's Birthdays

Franz Berwald (1796-1868)
Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803-1883)
Edouard Colonne (1838-1910)
Francesco Cilea (1866-1950)
Ben Weber (1916-1979)
Leon Fleisher (1928-2020)
Bernard Roberts (1933-2013)
Maria João Pires (1944)
Susan Graham (1960)

and

Raymond Chandler (1888-1959)
Vikram Chandra (1961)

and from the former Writer's Almana:

It was on this day in 1829 that William Burt received a patent for the "typographer." It was a typewriter that looked more like a record player. It had a swinging arm that picked up ink and then printed a letter, and then the paper was manually adjusted to make space for the next letter.

Monday, July 22, 2024

Today's Birthdays

Luigi Arditti (1822-1903)
Hans Rosbaud (1895-1962)
Licia Albanese (1913-2014)
George Dreyfus (1928)
Ann Howard Jones (1936)
Alan Menken (1949)
Nigel Hess (1953)
Eve Beglarian (1958)

and

Emma Lazarus (1849-1887)
Edward Hopper (1882-1967)
Raymond Chandler (1888-1959)
Alexander Calder (1898-1976)
Tom Robbins (1936)
S. E. Hinton (1948)

Sunday, July 21, 2024

Today's Birthdays

Jean Rivier (1896-1987)
Isaac Stern (1920-2001)
Anton Kuerti (1938)
Cat Stevens (1948)
Margaret Ahrens (1950)

and

Hart Crane (1899-1932)
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
Tess Gallagher (1943)
Garry Trudeau (1948)

Saturday, July 20, 2024

Today's Birthdays

Gaston Carraud (1864-1920)
Déodat de Séverac (1872-1921)
Gunnar de Frumerie (1908-1987)
Vilém Tauský (1910-2004)
Michael Gielen (1927-2019)
Nam June Paik (1932-2006)
Hukwe Zawose (1938-2003)
Carlos Santana (1947)
Bob Priest (1951)

and
Pavel Kohout
Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374)
Pavel Kohout (1928)
Cormac McCarthy (1933-2023)