In Memoriam

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…

Don Canedy, one of the founders of the Percussive Arts Society, died on July 1, 2015. He began playing drums at age 10 and attended Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where he received B.S. and MMEd. degrees. He started his professional career as a band director and professor at Southern Illinois University before being hired by…

Jim Coffin, who worked for Selmer and Yamaha and was very involved with PAS, died on April 9, 2015. Born in Waterloo, Iowa in 1931, he received bachelors and masters degrees from what is now the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). After playing professionally in Los Angeles he returned to Iowa and began teaching at…

Leonard “Lennie” DiMuzio, longtime artist relations manager for Zildjian cymbals and most recently a consultant for Sabian, died on March 7, 2015 after a long battle with cancer.  He was born May 4, 1933 in Cambridge, Mass. After graduating high school he studied at the New England Conservatory and then the Schillinger House. He was…

Broadway and big band drummer Dave Ratajczak passed away after an extended illness on October 3, 2014. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Ratajczak performed and recorded with a wide variety of artists including the Woody Herman Orchestra, Gerry Mulligan, Eddie Daniels, Grady Tate, Milt Hinton, Kenny Rankin, the New York Philharmonic, the…

Drummer Idris Muhammad died July 29, 2014 at age 74. Born Leo Morris in New Orleans, he began playing professionally at age 12. From 1962–65 he played with soul singers Sam Cooke and Jerry Butler and the group the Impressions. He also worked with singer Betty Carter and played with saxophonist Lou Donaldson from 1965–67,…

Dr. Mark E. Sunkett died on June 26, 2014. He was a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Temple University in Philadelphia where he received his undergraduate and masters degrees. Dr. Sunkett also held a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Pittsburgh. He became a member of the performance faculty at Arizona…

Wendell R. Jones, Bowling Green State University’s first full-time percussion faculty member, died June 17, 2014 at age 82. He was widely known throughout Ohio as an advocate for music education, particularly percussion instruments. He excelled at playing marimba and vibraphone and performed as a soloist with several ensembles as well as his own Wendell…

Dr. James L. Moore, who founded Percussive Notes magazine and served as its editor from 1962–80, died on June 12, 2014. Born May 2, 1934, Moore held degrees from the University of Michigan and The Ohio State University. From 1964–92 Dr. Moore was head of percussion studies at The Ohio State University School of Music….

Noted musician, author and educator Chuck Silverman died on May 1, 2014.  After studying musicology at UCLA, Silverman became known as a specialist in applying Afro-Caribbean rhythms to the drumset, and he organized many trips to Cuba at which drummers and percussionists could study Cuban music first-hand. Three of his books, Practical Applications 1, 2…