In Memoriam

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…

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…