In Memoriam
Celebrating some of the giants in the history of the Stockbridge Sinfonia who we have recently lost.
Joy Dronge
Joy Dronge was a Juilliard-trained flutist and composer who had her work performed at Tanglewood, Boston University, Lesley College, Simon’s Rock College of Bard, Spencertown Academy, Edward Pickman Concert Hall, Longy School of Music, American Women Composers of Massachusetts Concerts at the First Parish Church in Watertown, Kripalu Center, and on community television. Joy passed away on November 12, 2022.
One of the founders of the Stockbridge Sinfonia, Dronge taught music in the Pittsfield Public Schools for 14 years. She was a three-time participant in the Creating Original Opera, a program of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and received several grants from the Massachusetts Council of the Arts.
Bill Loeb
Bill Loeb, who joined the orchestra (then the Stockbridge Chamber Orchestra) in its first decade and is listed in its fiftieth-anniversary (2022) concert program as a flute and piccolo player, passed away on July 31, 2023.
"Dedication" perfectly describes Bill's relationship with the orchestra. Not only was he its oldest player ever (he would have turned 99 in September), he was also president of the orchestra in the 1990s and was still serving on the board of directors decades later, as past president.
Bill was a recruiter. He recruited other players to the orchestra — adults who had played in orchestras before and were familiar with the symphonic literature. In the 1990s, he and violinist Al Ludwig noticed that the current population of players were aging out through retirement or death. They knew they needed to recruit younger players. Al went into the schools while Bill spoke to private teachers. In 1996, following Al's death and his widow's desire to have a scholarship program established in his name, three students joined the orchestra. All scholarship donations that year came from current players, and every dollar of it was awarded. It would take many years before enough donations were received to establish any kind of endowment.
A little later, Bill recruited coaches for the violin section. Retired BSO violinist Harvey Siegel was the first. The second, also from the BSO, was Gerald Elias, a composer and conductor as well as a violinist whose work Overture in the Classical Style is on today's program. Over the years, the improvement of the players who received coaching from Siegel and Elias led to coaching opportunities for players in many other sections.
Seeing a need and doing something about it seems to summarize Bill's way of going about things. The orchestra will miss him.
—Betsy Strauch, retired Sinfonia viola/violin/cello
Dick Perera
Dick was a cellist with the Sinfonia for a number of years and served as principal cellist for several years.
The Stockbridge Sinfonia expresses deep appreciation to the Perera family for its generous donation to establish two endowed funds in memory of their father, Dr. Richard Perera — one for an annual student award and the second for ongoing operating support.
Leonard Marcus
Leonard Marcus co-founded the Stockbridge Chamber Orchestra (later renamed to Stockbridge Sinfonia) in 1972 at the old Stockbridge Town Hall to provide an opportunity for amateur chamber players to rehearse and perform major orchestral works. Other co-founders include Joy Dronge and Terry Furtado. Leonard Marcus served as a conductor of the Sinfonia for nearly four decades with three decades as the Music Director.
In his teens, Leonard was accepted to the Tanglewood Music Center as a violinist but sustained a finger injury, rendering him unable to continue in the string program. He was offered the opportunity to study conducting with Leonard Bernstein, who remained a lifelong friend, and composition with Aaron Copland, Paul Hindemith, Walter Piston and Randall Thompson. Over many years, Leonard worked as assistant manager of the classical department of London Records; manager of information services at Columbia Records; editor of the Carnegie Hall Programs; contributing author to Encyclopedia Britannica; and program annotator for the American Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Marcus was the Editor in Chief of High Fidelity magazine and Musical America from 1968 to 1980.
Leonard Marcus co-hosted the syndicated radio program “Concert Stage” with the American soprano Phyllis Curtin. He was also a gifted teacher and taught music at the Henry Street Music School and the Metropolitan Music School, and the Dalton School in New York City. He served as chairman of the Montreux (Switzerland) International Record Awards, founder and president of the International Record Critics Award, and chairman of the Koussevitzky International Record Awards.
Leonard Marcus dies; was longtime conductor of Stockbridge Sinfonia (Berkshire Eagle, December 12, 2014)