Lorin Levee, clarinet player with the LA Phil since 1976, passed away Wednesday after a long battle with a blood disorder.
"It is with great sadness that we pass on the news that our Principal Clarinet, Lorin Levee passed away yesterday. He fought a long and courageous battle with a fatal blood disorder; a battle so valiant that he played his final concert with us only on January 8. Lorin joined the orchestra in 1976 as our bass clarinetist and in 1981 won the position as Principal. He was a great clarinetist, a dedicated member of our New Music group, and had appeared with the orchestra as a soloist on numerous occasions. This is a real loss for us all."
- Taken from the LA Phil Facebook Page
Levee first joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1976 playing bass clarinet before being promoted to principal clarinet at the start of the 1981-1982 season. Before playing with the LA Phil, Levee was an active performer in his home city of Chicago, playing with the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Chicago's Grant Park Symphony, and the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra.
"A concert on Thursday at Walt Disney Concert Hall will be dedicated to Levee. The orchestra has added an extra piece to the program -- Ravel's "Le Jardin Féerique" (The Enchanted Garden) -- in honor of the musician. In addition, Deborah Borda, president of the L.A. Philharmonic, is scheduled to speak."
One of the greatest to ever play the clarinet. RIP Lorin
ReplyDeleteI am very sad to read about Loren's passing. I was a 14-yr old 'hot shot' clarinetist from Denver when I spent a summer at National Music Camp in Interlochen. Loren was first chair at 12-yrs old and I was second. I realized right away that Loren was a prodigy, never to be challenged. He played the Nielsen Clarinet Concerto with the orchestra. Wow. I was just content and honored to sit next to him. Rest in Peace, Loren
ReplyDelete