British-South African composer John Joubert died on 7th January. He was 91. Joubert was born in Cape Town, South Africa and educated in the Anglican Diocesan College in Rondebosch. He…

Israeli composer, conductor and teacher Noam Sheriff died on 25th August. He was 83. As a composer Sheriff fused elements of Eastern and Western music in a broadly atonal style.…

The musical world today mourns the loss of one of the outstanding figures in contemporary British music, composer and conductor Oliver Knussen, CBE. He was just 66. Ever self-critical his…

US composer and guitarist Glenn Branca died on May 13th. He was 69. Branca studied theatre at Emerson College, Boston. After spending time in the UK in 1973, he returned…

New York-based composer Matt Marks died on May 11th. He was just 38.  Not just a composer but also a mean arranger, singer and horn player, Marks was a founding…

American composer, pianist and academic Donald H. Keats died on 27th April. He was 88.  Keats was a graduate of Yale University, where he studied with Quincy Porter and Hindemith,…

Canadian composer Robert Joseph Rosen died on Monday 19th March in Ottawa. He was 61.  Rosen studied in Canada with Violet Archer, Malcolm Forsyth and Bruce Mather. He attended the…

Croatian composer, conductor and teacher Milko Kelemen died on 8th March in Stuttgart. He was 93. Kelemen was a composition pupil of Stjepan Šulek, later studying in Paris with Messiaen…

Hungarian composer László Melis died on 12th February. He was 65.  Melis studied the violin at the Liszt Academy, Budapest, before performing extensively as a founding member of the contemporary…