In Memoriam

Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos died of lung cancer on March 9, 2016 at age 71 in the northeastern Brazil city of Recife, where he was born. He was best known for his mastery of the single-string percussion instrument called the berimbau. “When I started to play berimbau differently…the idea came into my mind that instruments…

Robin Engelman, one of the founding members of the world renowned percussion ensemble Nexus, died on Feb. 26, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, after a nine-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Eleanor, two children, and three grandchildren. Inducted into the PAS Hall of Fame with the other…

Drummer, author, and composer Dr. Willis F. Kirk, Jr. died on February 16, 2016. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1928, he began drum lessons in fourth grade. After high school, he worked with many groups in Indianapolis, including Wes Montgomery, with whom he played for many years. In 1950, he was drafted into the army….

Roger Brett Schupp died on December 15, 2015 at age 55. He was Professor of Percussion and Jazz Studies at Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts in Ohio, and served on the PAS Contest and Audition Procedures Committee and Drumset Committee. He was a member of the Toledo Symphony Percussion Trio, Toledo Symphony…

Drummer-percussionist, author, educator, composer, and producer Ed Uribe died on November 20, 2015. He played with a variety of artists, including Ray Barretto, Paquito D’Rivera, Randy Brecker, Gary Burton, Michel Camilo, George Coleman, Tania Maria, Donald Byrd, Dave Samuels, Angela Bofill, David Friedman, Claudio Roditi, Andy Narell, the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabakin Orchestra, and Lionel Hampton….

By Gary Cook Tele Lesbines, best know for his distinguished career as timpanist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1999, died on November 9, 2015 in Milwaukee. His 30 years as timpanist with the Milwaukee Symphony included world tours and recordings with the greatest conductors of our lifetime. The Koss Classic CDs Tele…

Richard “Dick” Horowitz, retired principal timpanist of the Metropolitan Opera orchestra, died on Nov. 2, at age 91.Richard Samuel Horowitz was born in New York on Feb. 3, 1924. After graduating from the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, Horowitz studied at Brooklyn College and the Juilliard School. He joined the Metropolitan Opera…

French percussionist, teacher, and author Jacques Delécluse died on Oct. 20, 2015. Born in September 1933, Jacques was the son of Ulysse Delécluse, a famous clarinet player and teacher in France. Jacques first started to study piano, and was a very gifted pianist. He also studied percussion with Felix Passerone, principal timpanist of the Paris…

by Lauren Vogel Weiss Marshall Edison Maley, Jr., owner of Maley’s Music in Arlington, Virginia, died on July 28, 2015 from complications of sarcoidosis. He was an active percussion instructor and freelance musician in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, playing jazz, rock, show, and classical music. Maley had performed with the Baltimore Symphony, Eugene Fodor,…

Everett “Vic” Firth, longtime timpanist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, teacher at the New England Conservatory of Music, and founder of the Vic Firth drumstick company, died on July 26, 2015 at age 85. Born June 2, 1930, in Winchester, Massachusetts, and raised in Maine, Firth’s father was a successful trumpet and cornet player who…