Nunc Dimittis

J. Bunker Clark died of melanoma on December 26, 2003, in Lawrence, Kansas, at the age of 72. Born on October 19, 1931, he earned a BMus and MMus in music theory, and a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Further study as a Fulbright Scholar took him to Jesus College, Cambridge University, in England. Bunker Clark's teaching career began in 1957-59 as instructor of theory and organ at Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri. From 1959-61, he served as organist-choirmaster, Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Following a 1964-65 position as lecturer in music (music history, harpsichord, piano) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Dr. Clark began his long tenure at the University of Kansas in 1965 as assistant professor of music history; in 1969 he was promoted to associate professor, and in 1975 he became professor. He retired in 1993 as professor emeritus of music history.

An inveterate author and editor, Bunker Clark wrote on numerous topics and served as editor for Harmonie Park Press in the Detroit Studies in Music Bibliography, Detroit Monographs in Musicology/Studies in Music, and Bibliographies in American Music. In addition, he worked as general editor for Information Coordinators, which later became Harmonie Park Press. Although Dr. Clark's specialty was American church music of the English Baroque, he wrote extensively on early American keyboard music, including these books and articles, among others: Anthology of Early American Keyboard Music, 1787-1830, Recent Researches in American Music, vols. 1-2; "American Organ Music before 1830: A Critical and Descriptive Survey"; The Dawning of American Keyboard Music; American Keyboard Music through 1865; "18th-Early 20th-Century American Piano and Harpsichord Music in Anthologies, Reprints, and Recordings"; and Charles Zeuner (1795-1857): Fantasias and Fugues for Organ and Piano. In addition to his writing and teaching, Bunker Clark presented a series of radio broadcasts entitled Early American Keyboard Music. This series of 13 half-hour programs, funded by a research grant from the University of Kansas--with material gathered in 1972-73 on a National Endowment for the Humanities grant--ran in 1975 on the University of Kansas radio station KANU, and was purchased by other libraries or radio stations across the country.

Bunker Clark was a founding member of the Sonneck Society, now known as the Society for American Music, and he was awarded with the Citation for Distinguished Service at its meeting in Kansas City, February 1998. He was active in the American Musicological Society, Music Library Association, College Music Society (life member), American Musical Instrument Society, Midwestern Historical Keyboard Society, and other music organizations.

Memorial services were held on January 2, 2004, at Trinity Lutheran Church, in Lawrence, Kansas. A Michigan memorial service will be held at the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration on August 8 at Bois Blanc Island.

Richard Frederick Horn, church musician and composer, died on June 5 in De Forest, Wisconsin, at the age of 66. He was born on March 7, 1938, in Mt. Kisko, New York, and grew up in Rochester, New York. At the age of 12 he was appointed assistant organist at his uncle's church in Philadelphia, beginning a 54-year career of church service in Pennsylvania, California, and Wisconsin. He studied organ with Catherine Baxter and Galen Weixel, but was largely self-taught. After attending Haverford College and Susquehanna University, he moved to California where he taught high school choral arts. In 1969 he moved to Madison and became resident musician at the St. Benedict Center. He married Paula Klink in 1974, settled in De Forest, and established the De Forest Piano Service. He served a number of local churches, and for the last 16 years was music director at St. Patrick's Church in downtown Madison. A long-time member of the American Guild of Organists, he achieved Colleague status in 1988. For 16 years he was a member of the Association of Church Musicians in Madison, serving eight years on their executive board and three years as dean. His choral and organ compositions, which have been performed throughout the world, are published by MorningStar Music Publishers of St. Louis. He is survived by his wife, Paula; their son, Paul William, Johannesburg, South Africa; and numerous relatives. A Mass of Christian Burial was held at St. Patrick's Church in Madison on June 9.

M. Searle Wright, 86, of Binghamton, New York, died on June 3 after a period of declining health. Mr. Wright is survived by cousins and numerous friends and colleagues worldwide. He was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, in 1918. After his family moved to Binghamton, he took an interest in theatre organs, and as a teenager played the Wurlitzer organ at the Capitol Theatre. He later studied classical organ and church music with T. Tertius Noble at St. Thomas Church in New York City, and with the French organist and composer Joseph Bonnet. He attended Columbia University and the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary, where he joined the faculty in 1947. Searle Wright was a Fellow of the AGO, of Trinity College, London, and of the Royal Canadian College of Organists. He was the first American to perform a solo recital at Westminster Abbey in London. For many years, he attended and participated in the Three Choirs Festival in England. He was a published composer, with works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, chorus and organ. Many of these works have been recorded, and his last written work was published about three years ago.

From 1952 to 1971, Searle Wright was director of chapel music at St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University in New York City, and from 1969 to 1971 was president of the AGO. In 1977 he returned to Binghamton to become the first Link Professor of Organ at Binghamton University and organist for the B.C. Pops Orchestra. In addition, he was organist and choir director at the First Congregational Church for 20 years. A memorial service was held on June 13 at Trinity Memorial Church in Binghamton.

Elise Murray Cambon died December 30, 2007, at Touro Infirmary, New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. Cambon received a B.A. from Newcomb College in 1939, a Master of Music in organ from the University of Michigan (1947), and a Ph.D. from Tulane (1975). For 62 years she served St. Louis Cathedral as organist, music minister, and director of the St. Louis Cathedral Choir and Concert Choir. She was named Director Emerita in 2002.
A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Cambon studied in Germany in 1953, attended Hochschule fur Musik in Frankfurt-am-Main, and continued her studies in organ with Helmut Walcha, harpsichord with Marie Jaeger Young, and conducting with Kurt Thomas. She also did post-graduate work at Syracuse University, Oberlin College, and Pius X School of Liturgical Music in Purchase, New York. She spent a summer at the Benedictine Abbey of Solesmes, France, studying Gregorian chant.
Dr. Cambon was a professor in Loyola’s College of Music (1961 to 1982), founding their Department of Liturgical Music, and also taught music at the Louise S. McGehee School and Ursuline Academy. She was one of the founders of the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists. She received the Order of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the French government for encouraging French music in New Orleans. She led the St. Louis Cathedral Concert Choir on five pilgrimages to Europe, where they sang at St. Peter’s in Rome, Notre Dame de Paris, and other famous cathedrals and churches. In 2004, she made a gift of a new Holtkamp organ for the cathedral. Dr. Cambon was interviewed by Marijim Thoene for The Diapason (“Her Best Friends Were Archbishops—An interview with Elise Cambon, organist of New Orleans’ St. Louis Cathedral for 62 years,” October 2004).

Anita Jeanne Shiflett Graves died September 16, 2007, at age 86. Born September 20, 1920, in Lincoln, Illinois, she attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and earned a master’s degree in music at Northwestern University. She had worked as a church organist, choir director and funeral home organist, and taught at Drake University and San Jose State University. A funeral service was held at Campbell United Methodist Church in Campbell, California.

Kay Wood Haley died July 10, 2007, at age 90 in Fairhope, Alabama. Born March 26, 1917, in Sumner, Illinois, she began playing for church services in Flora, Alabama, at age 14. She attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and then transferred to the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Harold Gleason and graduated in 1938. From 1939–1983, Mrs. Haley was organist at Judson College in Marion, Alabama, and at First Baptist, First Presbyterian, and St. Paul’s Episcopal churches, all in Selma, Alabama. She helped found the Selma Choral Society and the Selma Civic Chorus, and helped lead the Alabama Church Music Workshop.

Gerald W. Herman Sr. died August 25, 2007 at age 81 in Gainesville, Florida. Born November 9, 1925, he began his 61-year organist career on April 28, 1946, at Rockville United Brethren Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and played for several other churches in the area. A job transfer with Nationwide Insurance in 1979 brought him to Gainesville, Florida, where he served as organist at Kanapaha Presbyterian Church and then at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Archer, Florida. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Charlotte, a daughter, and a son.

Theodore C. Herzel died September 28, 2007, in York, Pennsylvania. Born October 10, 1927, in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, he held church positions in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Detroit, Michigan, and served as organist-director of music for 28 years at First Presbyterian Church, York, Pennsylvania, retiring in 1988. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Westminster Choir College and a master’s at the Eastman School of Music. He was an active member of the York AGO chapter and the Matinee Music Club.
H. Wiley Hitchcock, musicologist, author, teacher, editor and scholar of American as well as baroque music, died December 5 at the age of 84. In 1971 he founded the Institute for Studies in American Music at Brooklyn College of the City of New York, and in 1986 he edited, with Stanley Sadie, the New Grove Dictionary of American Music. He retired from CUNY in 1993 as a Distinguished Professor, but maintained a consulting relationship with ISAM until the end.
Born on September 28, 1923, in Detroit, Michigan, Hitchcock earned his B.A. in 1944 from Dartmouth College and served in the military during WW II. After the war he studied music with Nadia Boulanger at the Conservatoire Américan and at the University of Michigan, from which he earned his Ph.D. in 1954. His dissertation was on the sacred music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier.
He started teaching in 1950 at Michigan and in 1961 moved to Hunter College in New York. A decade later he went to Brooklyn College and became founding director of ISAM. In his honor, the ISAM is to be renamed the Hitchcock Institute for Studies in American Music. In addition to his work on Grove, Hitchcock edited numerous publications. His last book, Charles Ives: 129 Songs (Music of the United States of America), was published by A-R Editions in 2004.

Everett W. Leonard died June 9, 2007, in Katy, Texas, at age 96. Born March 4, 1911, in Franklin, New Hampshire, he began piano lessons at age nine and organ lessons in high school. He worked for 40 years for the U.S. Postal Service in Washington, DC. In addition, he served as organist at Central Presbyterian Church and Mount Olivet Methodist Church, both in Arlington, Virginia, and at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Punta Gorda, Florida, and at the Lutheran Church of the Cross, Port Charlotte, Florida. A longtime member of the AGO, he served as dean of the District of Columbia chapter.

W. Gordon Marigold, longtime author and reviewer for The Diapason, died November 25, 2007, in Urbana, Illinois. Born May 24, 1926, in Toronto, he earned a B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, and earned an M.A. from Ohio State University. He also studied in Munich, Germany. Dr. Marigold taught German at the University of Western Ontario, Trinity College Schools, the University of Virginia, and at Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. At Union College, he was a department head, division chairman, and college organist, and he supervised the installation of a new organ by Randall Dyer in 1991. He retired as professor emeritus of German in 1991, and moved to Urbana, Illinois.
Dr. Marigold received his musical training in piano, organ, and voice at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and in Munich. He served as organist at churches in Toronto, at First Methodist Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he gave an annual series of recitals, and churches in Columbus, Ohio. He was heard in radio organ recitals broadcast by station WOSU in Columbus, and played on the annual Bach recital at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Champaign, Illinois.
Professor Marigold was an internationally known scholar of German Baroque literature and music, and author of five books, countless articles in scholarly journals (including The Diapason, Musical Opinion, and The Organ), hundreds of reviews of German literature for Germanic Notes and Reviews, and countless reviews of recordings and books for The Diapason. He was a recipient of many research grants for study and research in Germany.
Dr. Marigold is survived by his wife Constance Young Marigold, whom he married on August 22, 1953. A Requiem Eucharist was celebrated on December 1 at the Chapel of St. John the Divine in Champaign, Illinois. Linda Buzard, parish organist and choirmaster, provided music by Bach, Purcell, Byrd, and Willan, along with hymns Lobe den Herren, Austria, Slane, and Darwall’s 148th.
In addition to numerous reviews of new recordings and books, Dr. Marigold’s Diapason bibliography includes:
“Max Drischner and his organ writings: a neglected modern,” Oct 1955;
“Austrian church music experiences extensive revival,” May 1956;
“The organs at the Marienkirche at Lübeck,” Dec 1969;
“A visit to Preetz, Germany,” April 1971;
“Some interesting organs in Sweden,” May 1971;
“Organs and organ music of South Germany,” Oct 1974;
“Organs in Braunschweig: some problems of organ placement,” Aug 1982;
“18th-century organs in Kloster Muri, Switzerland,” Feb 1986;
“Organ and church music activity in Munich during the European Year of Music,” Aug 1986;
“A variety of recent German organs,” April 1989;
“Dyer organ for Union College, Barbourville, KY,” Dec 1991.
(Dr. Marigold continued to write reviews to within weeks of his death. The Diapason will publish these reviews posthumously.—Ed.)

Johnette Eakin Schuller died September 21, 2007, at age 66 in Brewster, Massachusetts. She earned degrees from the College of Wooster, Ohio, and the Eastman School of Music. She and her husband, Rodney D. Schuller, served for 31 years as ministers of sacred music and organists at the Reformed Church of Bronxville, New York. Johnette Schuller also held positions at Andrew Price Memorial United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee; the Presbyterian Church in Bound Brook, New Jersey; the Post Chapel in Fort George G. Meade, Maryland; and Calvary Lutheran Church in Verona, New Jersey.

Philip Hahn, the immediate past president of the American Guild of Organists, died peacefully at his home in San Francisco, California on April 13, 2003, from complications of myelofibrosis, a disease of the bone marrow. From 1992 to 2002, he was a member of the AGO National Council and served as president from 1998 to 2002.

Hahn received bachelor and master of music degrees from the University of Michigan where he studied with Marilyn Mason and Robert Noehren, and earned a DMA in composition and organ performance from the American Conservatory of Music, Chicago, studying with Stella Roberts and Robert Lodine. He received certificates in organ, composition, and solfeggio from the Conservatoire Americain, Fontainebleau, France, where he studied with Nadia Boulanger and André Marchal, and held the AAGO certificate.

During his career, he was an associate professor of music at the University of Northern Iowa, where he oversaw the installation of a large four-manual organ built by Robert Noehren, and was director of music at Waterloo's First United Methodist Church. After moving to California, Hahn served as director of music at the First Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto for several years before being appointed artistic director of the San Francisco Boys Chorus. He played many recitals on notable instruments and was a featured recitalist, workshop leader, and adjudicator at many AGO conventions.

Philip Hahn was also a professional chef, holding the position of sous chef at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, later running his own restaurant, Fanny's, in San Francisco. For several years Hahn ran the restaurant and served as organist at the First Presbyterian Church of San Anselmo, returning exclusively to church music in 1980. From 1990 until his death, Hahn served as organist-choirmaster at St. John's Episcopal Church in Ross, California.

Dr. Hahn's compositions include sacred anthems, pieces for trumpet and organ including The Trumpet Sings Thanksgiving; Spiritual; Fanfare for Five Trumpets and Organ; and two large concerted works: Fantasy for Orchestra and Acclamations! A Fanfare for Concert Band. For the organ, he wrote several short hymn-based compositions plus larger works including Sonata for Organ; Songs from the Forest: A Suite for Organ and Synthesizer; and Suite for Organ Celesta, Vibraharp, and Timpani. His Sonata for Violin and Piano was the recipient of a Sigma Alpha Iota Prize. His short ballet The Dance in the Desert was fully staged at both the First Presbyterian Church, Palo Alto, and at St. John's Episcopal Church in Ross.

He is survived by his partner of 29 years Norman Nagao, two sisters, and a number of nephews and nieces. A memorial service was held at St. John's Episcopal Church in Ross, California, on May 4.

Richard L. Johnson, 61, of Buffalo, New York, and East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, died on December 6, 2002, in Buffalo. Dr. Johnson was professor of humanities at Medaille College, Buffalo, joining the faculty in 1984. An accomplished musician and dedicated educator, he was known for his innovative theatre and music classes. He also directed numerous stage productions and was named the college's Professor of the Year for 2000-2001.

Dr. Johnson was born on May 17, 1941, in San Antonio, Texas. Upon receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Trinity University of San Antonio in 1963, he went on to earn his Master of Music degree from Yale University in 1965. He spent 1966-67 in Copenhagen, Denmark, on a Fulbright Scholarship, studying organ with Finn Viderø. Returning to the United States, he held faculty positions at Wake Forest University, Amherst College, Smith College, and the University of Maine. In 1973, he graduated from the University of Michigan with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. In 1992, he received a National Endowment for the Humanities award to study theatre at Columbia University, and at the time of his death he was pursuing a post-doctoral Master's degree in Theatre at SUNY-Buffalo.

In addition to teaching, Dr. Johnson performed organ recitals at venues across the country, including the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, and St. Thomas Church in New York City. Several of his recordings aired on National Public Radio stations throughout the country. He is survived by his parents, a sister, brother, nieces and nephews, and his long-time partner, Richard LaBorde of East Longmeadow.

Richard Eugene Livesay died on February 24 at the age of 87. A resident of Alexandria, Virginia, he was organist at Cherrydale United Methodist Church in Arlington from 1947 to 1988, when he was named organist emeritus. At that church he had played for more than 2,000 Sunday services, 600 weddings, and countless funerals, and helped design the church's Wicks pipe organ of 37 ranks. He was a former Dean of the Alexandria AGO chapter and was a guest organist at Washington National Cathedral. Born in Tulsa, he began piano study at age 12 and organ at age 16, and he attended Blackburn College in Illinois, Park College in Missouri, and American University. In the late 1930s, he worked for Jenkins Music Co. and demonstrated Hammond organs at churches around Tulsa. Mr. Livesay was also a Defense Department official from 1940 until retiring in 1973 as staff secretary to the secretary of defense. He is survived by his wife of 64 years Veradell Elliott Livesay, two children, and five grandchildren.

Dale Wood died on April 13 after a valiant battle against esophageal and lung cancer, at his Sea Ranch, California home. A renowned composer, organist and choral director, he was known for his numerous published choral works and hymn tunes, and his compositions for handbells, harp, and organ. He was for many years organist and choirmaster in San Francisco at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin and served in a similar capacity in Lutheran churches in Hollywood and Riverside, California. He had published numerous articles on worship, liturgy, and church music, and was a contributing editor to the Journal of Church Music for over a decade. His monthly column appeared in the Methodist journal Music Ministry for three years. Wood headed the publications committee of Choristers Guild from 1970-74. After serving as music director of the Grace Cathedral School for Boys in San Francisco (1973-74), he was appointed executive director for The Sacred Music Press, a position he held from 1975-96, and was editor emeritus 1996-2001. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) honored Dale Wood annually since 1967 for his "very important contribution towards the creation and development of contemporary American Music." The Board of Regents of California Lutheran University awarded Dale Wood the title of "Exemplar of the University," citing him as "an example of excellence in service and a worthy model of a good and useful life."

James Raymond Garner (1951– 2006) died on October 31, 2006 of heart failure while at home on his ship, the Sea Wave. An accomplished concert organist, organbuilder and church musician, he was also at various times a computer retailer, Dixieland jazz musician, and sea captain. His initial organ study was with Karl Bonawitz in Newport Beach, California. Bonawitz was a student of Pietro Yon and an organist at many famous theaters during the silent movie era. Garner also studied with Justin Colyer, a former student of Virgil Fox, and he quickly developed an expressive and flamboyant style of playing reminiscent of Fox.
Garner majored in organ performance at the University of Redlands, studying with Raymond Boese, and earned the bachelor of music degree in 1974. Following graduation, he established an organ building, restoration and maintenance firm, Raymond Garner & Co., which existed in various forms throughout his life. He was responsible for the construction and preservation of nine or more instruments, including a handheld portativ organ for the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Ray’s “Magnum Opus” was a three-manual Levi U. Stuart mechanical action organ, which he resurrected from a Masonic hall in Sydney, Ohio, and placed in St. John’s Episcopal Church in San Bernardino, California, following three years of restoration.
Following his installation of two restored organs in churches in Kalispell, Montana, Ray relocated there in 1982. An active musical force in Northwest Montana, he was a founding member of the Glacier Symphony and Chorale, and in the early years of that organization could be found variously playing bassoon, tuba, percussion, singing tenor or conducting. He was also a Dixieland jazz musician, and played both piano and sousaphone in several ensembles, performing in many jazz festivals throughout the West. In 1993 he and Karla West co-founded the Glacier Jazz Stampede, a festival that attracts dozens of Dixieland groups from across the country each year. Ray was a virtuosic ragtime pianist, and specialized in the repertoire of Jelly Roll Morton.
In 1994 Ray moved to Denver to take the position of organist at the First Church of Christ, Scientist. He later also took the post of organist at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, eventually becoming associate director of music. He was the logistics director of the Denver national AGO convention in 1998.
In 2000 Ray became assistant director of music at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, later moving on to St. Catherine of Siena R.C. Church in Martinez, St. Sebastian the Martyr R.C. Church in Greenbrae, and eventually to his final position, music director at St. Perpetua R.C. Church in Lafayette, California. Ray was a member in the Third Degree of The Knights of Columbus (Council No. 7683, Lafayette, California), where he was affectionately dubbed with the title, “Odemeister.” Early in 2006 he determined to purchase the historic tugboat “Sea Wave,” berthed in Seattle. After arduous labor, he sailed it to Point Richmond, California, where it is now docked. While in Seattle, he was spotted by a production company, which led to his (and Sea Wave’s) appearance in a Chevrolet commercial. At this point he became a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild.
Ray will be remembered as a vibrant, exciting performer who specialized in the French Romantic composers and who was also a talented improviser. He is survived by his mother Genevieve, wife Patrice, former wife Shauneen, and children Sydney, Adrienne, and Morgan. A Mass of Resurrection and memorial was held on November 11, 2006 at St. Perpetua Church.
—David Hatt

Daniel Pinkham—composer, organist, harpsichordist, conductor, and longtime music director at Boston’s King’s Chapel—died December 18, 2006, at the age of 83. A prolific composer, his output included symphonies, concertos, organ works, and especially music for chorus. His Christmas Cantata is a staple of the choral repertoire.
Daniel Pinkham was born in Lynn, Massachusetts on June 5, 1923. He studied organ and harmony at Phillips Academy, Andover, with Carl F. Pfatteicher; then at Harvard (A.B. 1942; M.A. 1944) with A. Tillman Merritt, Walter Piston, Archibald T. Davison and Aaron Copland. He also studied harpsichord with Putnam Aldrich and Wanda Landowska, and organ with E. Power Biggs. At Tanglewood he studied composition with Arthur Honegger and Samuel Barber, and subsequently with Nadia Boulanger.
In 1946 he was appointed to the faculty of the Boston Conservatory of Music. In 1953 and 1954, he also taught at Simmons College and Boston University. After serving as visiting lecturer at Harvard University in 1957–58, he joined the faculty of New England Conservatory, where he remained until his death. At NEC, Pinkham taught harmony and music history in addition to composition.
He composed music well into his later years. The evening before Pinkham’s death, Edward E. Jones led the Harvard University Choir in the world premiere of Pinkham’s A Cradle Hymn at Memorial Church in Cambridge. Pinkham’s extensive catalog can be found at .
Pinkham’s scholarship and work were recognized with a Fulbright Fellowship in 1950 and a Ford Foundation Fellowship in 1962. He received honorary degrees from NEC as well as from Nebraska Wesleyan University, Adrian College, Westminster Choir College, Ithaca College, and the Boston Conservatory. In 1990, Pinkham was named Composer of the Year by the American Guild of Organists. In 1996 Daniel Pinkham received the Alfred Nash Patterson Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to the Choral Arts.

Jon Spong died in Iowa City, Iowa, November 11, 2006. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1933, he received his bachelor and master of music degrees from Drake University, where he was an organ student of Frank B. Jordan, and a voice student of Andrew White. He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Grand View College, Des Moines, in 1990.
Spong held combined organist/choirmaster positions in many churches in Des Moines, Iowa City, and at Philadelphia’s First Baptist Church. He also taught at Drake University, Washington State University, Angelo State University, University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, and Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.
From 1964 to 1999 Jon Spong was the primary accompanist for Sherrill Milnes, baritone with leading opera houses in the United States and Europe. With Milnes, he recorded on RCA, VAI-Audio, and New World labels, and with Todd Thomas, operatic baritone from Philadelphia, on Diadem Records. Spong had coached at the Vocal Arts Academy in Philadelphia and conducted masterclasses with the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre. He performed many times at the White House and played at the Lincoln Memorial Prayer Service as part of President Carter’s inaugural celebration.
He was a noted composer, with numerous published organ solos and anthems of sacred music from several publishers, including Cantate Music Press, MorningStar Music Publishers and Lorenz Publishing Company. He played the premiere performance of Myron Roberts’ Nova, and played the first performance of several compositions by Alice Jordan. He gave numerous church organ dedicatory programs, as well as recitals for state, regional and national conventions of the American Guild of Organists.
A memorial celebration for Jon Spong was held December 1 at the Iowa City Senior Center, Iowa City, Iowa. Memorials are to be made to the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, 1120 Second Avenue S.E., Cedar Rapids, IA 52403.
—Robert Speed

Kenneth Edward Williams died on August 22, 2006, in Venice, Florida, at the age of 78. After serving in the U.S. Army, he earned degrees from Boston University and Union Theological Seminary, and was a certified church musician and commissioned church worker in the United Presbyterian Church U.S.A. He served as organist for churches in Boston, New York City, Indianapolis, Atlanta, and Wilmington, Delaware; Milburn, New Jersey; and Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He also held the position of music director at Princeton Theological Seminary for two years. A longtime AGO member, he served as dean of the Sarasota chapter 1994–97. He and his wife Lynelle directed the 1989 Montreat Conference on Worship and Music and served on the faculty of the conference for several years.

Elwin L. Myrick of Hillsboro, Oregon, formerly of Springfield, died February 28 of age-related causes. He was 88. Born on April 18, 1914, in Gardiner to Lester and Edith Patterson Myrick, he married Caroline ?Carrie? Eades in Portland on July 25, 1944. He was raised and attended schools in Portland, and graduated from high school in Huntington Park, California. He won a statewide piano contest held by the Oregon Music Teachers Association, which awarded him a scholarship to the University of Oregon. He played the first movement of the Grieg piano concerto with the UO symphony orchestra in 1934 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1939. While attending college, he served as organist at the Eugene First Christian Church. He later received bachelor?s and master?s degrees in music from the UO. Myrick served in the Navy as a radar technician on blimps and was stationed in Tillamook. He served as an organist and choir director at Ebbert Memorial United Methodist Church in Springfield. He began teaching organ, piano, theory and music history at Northwest Christian College in 1949 and retired in 1979, and was an organ instructor at the UO from 1953 until 1959. He was appointed organist at Central Presbyterian Church in Eugene in 1969. A charter member and past dean of the Eugene AGO chapter, he was also a charter member of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians and the Association of Disciples Musicians, in addition to being a member of Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity and of the Kiwanis. His interests included fishing, woodworking, photography and needlepoint, and he enjoyed a pre-dawn swim every day. A longtime resident of Springfield, he recently moved to Hillsboro to be near his family. Survivors include his wife, two daughters, two sons, 15 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. The memorial service was held on March 15 at Ebbert Memorial United Methodist Church in Springfield. Memorial contributions may be made to Ebbert Memorial United Methodist Church in Springfield or to Northwest Christian College in Eugene.

Janet Kelsey Walsh died December 20, 2002, of cancer at the age of 75. Born on October 2, 1927 in Eugene, Oregon to Jesse and Lydia Storli Kelsey, she married James Walsh in 1956. A lifetime resident of Eugene, she attended local schools and St. Olaf  College. In 1950 she graduated from the University of Oregon School of Music. She served as executive secretary of the Oregon Law Institute until retirement in 1989. She also worked as a music teacher in the public schools, was a radio copywriter for KUGN radio, and an editorial assistant for Young Life International. She served as a substitute and regular organist for many churches in the community and for countless wedding and funeral services. She was a member of Central Lutheran Church, Mu Phi Epsilon, and the Eugene AGO chapter. Survivors include two sons, a daughter, a brother, and two grandchildren. Memorial contributions can be made to the University of Oregon School of Music?s Janet Kelsey Walsh Memorial Scholarship.

Malcolm Williamson, Australian composer who was master of the queen?s music for Elizabeth II, died on March 2 in Cambridge at the age of 71. Born in Sydney on November 21, 1931, he entered the Sydney Conservatorium at age 11 to study piano and French horn, and composition under Sir Eugene Goossens, and graduated in 1944 with a Bachelor of Music degree. He moved to London in 1950 and continued his compositional training, studying under Elisabeth Lutyens and, later, Erwin Stein. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1952 and began a thorough study of the music of Olivier Messiaen. During this period Williamson worked as a proofreader for a publishing house, as an organist and choirmaster in a parish church, and as a pianist in a nightclub. These various types of music are reflected in his own compositions of the time, as were the influences of Stravinsky, Messiaen, and the music of the late 19th-century German and Italian operatic composers.

Williamson was able to devote himself entirely to composition since the early 1960s, and in 1975 became the Nineteenth Master of the Queen?s Music, the first non-Briton ever to have held that position. His compositional output included symphonies, stage works, chamber, choral and religious music, and film scores. He also had a interest in composing music for children, and composed a number of operas for children, including one based on Oscar Wilde?s The Happy Prince, and ?cassations,? miniature operas for audience participation. He was composer in residence at the Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey in 1970-71. Williamson received the CBE in 1976, a year after his appointment as master of the queen?s music, and the AO for services to music and the mentally handicapped in 1987. The University of Melbourne conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Music upon him in 1982. Williamson?s works for organ include Fons Amoris (1956), Symphony for Organ (1960), Organ Concerto (1961), Vision of Christ--Phoenix (1961, rev. 1978), Elegy--JFK (1964), Peace Pieces (1971), Mass of a Medieval Saint (1973), and Ochre (1978). He is survived by his wife Dolly, two daughters and a son.

Felix Aprahamian, noted music critic, died in London on January 15. Born in London on June 5, 1914, he was honorary secretary of the Organ Music Society 1935–70; concert manager of the London Philharmonic Orchestra 1940–46; and deputy music critic, Sunday Times 1948–89.

Mr. Aprahamian attended Tollington High School and studied organ with Eric Thiman, whom he assisted at Park Chapel, Crouch End. He worked for the Organ Music Society from the age of 17, and as assistant secretary was in correspondence with the leading organists of the day. His interest in and knowledge of French music led him to become organizer of the Concerts de Musique Française for the Free French in London in 1942. From 1946–84, he worked for United Music Publishers, the principal agent for French music in the UK. He served on the BBC Central Music Advisory Committee 1958–61.

Aprahamian wrote record reviews for Gramophone from 1964 to 1975. He also wrote many articles, reminiscences and introductions to books, and edited and translated Claude Samuel’s Conversations with Olivier Messiaen (1976). He lectured widely, including at Morley College, the City Literary Institute and Surrey University, and from 1989 was visiting professor at the University of East London. In 1991 he was Regents Lecturer at the University of California. He was made an honorary member of the Royal College of Organists in 1973 and an honorary fellow in 1994. He lived in the same house in Muswell Hill for 85 years, where his music room had an organ inherited from André Marchal, two pianos, scores and books.

Robert Baker died on January 24 at his home in Hamden, Connecticut, at the age of 88. He was predeceased by his wife of 61 years, Mary Frances Depler Baker, who died on July 23, 2004. He is survived by a son, a daughter, and two grandchildren. A memorial service took place at Spring Glen Congregational Church in Hamden.
Born in 1916 in Pontiac, Illinois, Robert Baker began playing the organ at the age of 12. He attended Illinois Wesleyan University, where he studied the organ with Frank Jordan. After graduation he moved to New York City and studied with Dr. Clarence Dickinson at Union Theological Seminary. There he earned the Master of Sacred Music degree in 1940 and the Doctor of Sacred Music degree in 1944.
He served as organist/choirmaster at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church, Scarsdale, New York 1938–41; at First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn Heights 1941–53; and in New York City at Temple Emanu-El 1945–61, St. James Episcopal Church 1969–74, and First Presbyterian Church 1975–88.

He was named director of the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in 1961 and dean in 1965. He was the founding director of Yale Institute of Sacred Music, New Haven, Connecticut 1973–76, and retired from the Yale faculty in 1987.

As a concert artist (under the Lilian Murtagh Concert Management for many years), he played recitals on virtually every important organ in the United States, including those at St. John the Divine, West Point Naval Academy, Grace Cathedral, and many others. In 1966, he was one of two American organists to perform for the 900th anniversary of Westminster Abbey. He held honorary doctorates from Illinois Wesleyan University, Bradley University, Westminster Choir College, and Susquehanna University.

Memorial services are scheduled for May 1 at First Presbyterian Church, New York City, and October 10 at Yale University’s Woolsey Hall.

Mary McCall Stubbins died December 25 in Washington, DC at the age of 90. Mrs. Stubbins served for 55 years as organist of First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor until her retirement in 1997. Born in Toluca, Illinois, she began piano study at age seven in Homewood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. This led to lessons and competitions at Mary Wood Chase School of Musical Arts, Columbia School of Music and the Chicago Conservatory of Music. She began playing church services on the piano for the Chicago Heights Christian Science Church at age 16. She studied organ with Edgar Nelson in Chicago, and earned a BA in music at the University of Chicago. In 1939 she married William H. Stubbins and they moved to Ann Arbor, where Mr. Stubbins taught clarinet at the University of Michigan until his death in 1975.

After moving to Ann Arbor, Mary Stubbins began playing organ and later directed the choir at First Congregational Church. In September 1942 she was appointed organist at First United Methodist Church. She received her MMus degree in organ from the University of Michigan, studying with the late Palmer Christian. She served as organist for more than 25 years with the University Musical Society, and played with the Philadelphia Orchestra when the Choral Union sang at the May Festival.

Mrs. Stubbins was a member of two international honorary musical fraternities—Mu Phi Epsilon and Phi Kappa Lambda—as well as a member of the American Guild of Organists. She was a charter member of the Ann Arbor chapter and served as treasurer and a member of the executive board. She is survived by two daughters and four granddaughters.