FAREWELL TO…
Hugh Masekela Born 1939 Jazz trumpeter
Hugh Masekela enjoyed worldwide fame as both a jazz trumpeter and a powerful voice in the Anti-apartheid movement. Born in the South African town of Witbank, his interest in music began when he was three – after seeing the film Young Man with a Horn, he was given a trumpet by his teacher as a deal to keep him out of trouble. In 1959 he joined the groundbreaking African jazz group The Jazz Epistles which also featured the pianist Dollar Brand (later known as Abdullah Ibrahim). Masekela left South Africa in 1960 to go into exile, studying at London’s Guildhall and then in New York where he became immersed in the jazz scene. Many hits followed, including US chart-topper ‘Grazing in the Grass’ and ‘Ha Lese Le Di Khanna’, while his 1987 song ‘Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela)’ became internationally famous. Masekela returned to South Africa in 1990 after Mandela’s release and he spent decades performing at festivals around the world, including Monterey Pop in 1967, the EFG London Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival and the Glastonbury Festival.
Caroline Brown Born 1955 Cellist
In 1980, Caroline Brown founded The Hanover Band, an ensemble whose primary aim was to perform Beethoven’s music on 19th-century instruments and in a style that would have been familiar to the composer. The group soon found itself being invited to play in major venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall and events including the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh Festival. Having completed its recording of Beethoven’s symphonies for Nimbus in 1987, The Hanover Band then moved on to recording works by Schubert, Schumann, JS Bach and Weber. Along with that of her friend and colleague Jonathan Del Mar, Brown’s meticulous research for The Hanover Band performances has proved of enormous value to the period instrument world.
Also remembered…
As joint chief executive of the music agent Askonas Holt from 19982013, Robert Rattray (b1950) was the much-loved manager of many notable musicians, including conductor Sir Charles Mackerras and mezzo Janet Baker. In 2014, he became assistant general manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
As well as performing as a soloist, the Russian pianist Igor Zhukov (b1936) also founded and conducted the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and played in the Zhukov Piano Trio. His many recordings included the complete Scriabin piano sonatas.