OBITUARIES

ANDREI ABRAMENKOV

Russian violinist Andrei Abramenkov died on 3 October 2023 at the age of 88. He was a member of the

Borodin Quartet for nearly 40 years. Abramenkov was born on 7 July 1935 to a family of musicians: his father was a violinist in the Bolshoi Theatre orchestra and his mother was a pianist. He began his early musical studies singing in the choir of the Bolshoi Theatre, then going on to train as a violinist at the Central School of Moscow, before joining the Moscow Conservatoire.

Before completing his studies, Abramenkov joined the Moscow Chamber Orchestra at the invitation of Rudolf Barshai, playing there until the 1970s. In 1974 he joined the Borodin Quartet, which was founded in 1945, replacing second violinist Yaroslav Alexandrov, who retired due to ill health. Joining simultaneously with first violinist Mikhail Kopelman, Abramenkov described the period of changing personnel as a turning point for the ensemble’s identity: ‘There was a new and very conscious evaluation of the music, on a deeper and more philosophical level.’

With the Borodin Quartet, Abramenkov participated in numerous performances and recordings, including the complete Shostakovich quartets and the piano quintet, Tchaikovsky string quartets and Souvenir de Florence sextet, the first and second quartets by Borodin, as well as music by Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms and Dvořák.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, the quartet’s already busy touring schedule intensified as the ensemble began performing internationally. From 2004 to 2005 the ensemble celebrated its 60th anniversary with performance cycles of the complete Beethoven quartets at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Vienna Musikverein. Gala concerts honouring the quartet were performed in Moscow, London’s Wigmore Hall and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris.

Abramenkov retired from the quartet in 2011 and was replaced by Sergey Lomovsky.

ROBERT K. DODSON

US cellist Robert K. Dodson died on 15 October aged 81. He was a performer, music educator and provost of the New England Conservatory (NEC) from 2004 to 2007.

Dodson was born on 2 January 1942 in Los Angeles, CA. Studying with János Starker, he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and received an honorary doctorate in 2006. He also studied at Columbia University and NEC.

Dodson served as dean of Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Lawrence University Conservatory, vice-principal and principal of the Royal Conservatory of Music, and artistin-residence and faculty member at Queen’s University. While in Canada, Dodson founded and served as managing director of the Friends of Chamber Music. In addition, he was a member of the Vaghy Quartet for eleven years between 1969 and 1981.

After his post as provost of NEC, Dodson became the director of Boston University’s College of Fine Arts. In retirement, he was a volunteer member of the Olive Fire Department.

Dodson is survived by his wife of 58 years, his daughter and son, his brother, four grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.

JOHN BANY

US jazz bassist John Bany died on 5 November at the age of 81. A prolific recording artist, he could be heard on recordings with musicians including Joe Venuti, Bud Freeman, Eddie Higgins, Bonnie Koloc, Chuck Hedges and Don DeMichael.

Bany was born in 1942 in Ohio, fifth in a family line of bassists and tuba players. He studied the double bass with Charlie Medcalf, Harold Roberts and Richard Topper, all bassists with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and earned a degree in music from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Bany won the United States Air Force Worldwide Talent Contest in 1964 and toured with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. His playing and vocals made him a fan favourite at numerous jazz festivals, including the original Big Horn Festival in Ivanhoe, Illinois, the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Mid-American Jazz Festival in St Louis, the Elkhart Jazz Festival and the Atlanta World Music Fest.

As a writer, Bany was a regular contributor to Bass World magazine in the 1980s, reporting on the jazz scene in Chicago. He served as editor of the International Society of Bassists’ magazine from 1984 to 1988.

RONALD ARRON

Violist Ronald Arron has died aged 79. He was a popular member of the orchestra of the New York Metropolitan Opera, in which he played for almost two decades until his retirement.

Born in 1944 in Chicago, IL, Arron first studied violin under the tutelage of his father, before joining the Chicago Youth Symphony and later graduating from the Northwestern University in Illinois, US. He performed as the assistant principal violist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1968 until 1986, and as the principal violist of the Metropolitan Orchestra from 1986 until 2005. He continued to play as the principal violist for the New York Pops even after his retirement, and served as the music director of Chamber Music at Rye Presbyterian, NY.

In a tribute on its Instagram page, the Metropolitan Orchestra remembers Arron fondly: ‘Ron was always smiling, joking and had a kind spirit that lifted those around him and was a frequent audience member at the Met after his retirement.’

Arron’s wife Judith Arron, former executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall, died in 1998. Arron’s son Edward is an active performer and the associate professor of cello at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.