“Jean-Louis LeRoux, a gifted and versatile musician whose long career in San Francisco and abroad encompassed stints as an instrumentalist, conductor, teacher and musical entrepreneur, died on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at his San Francisco home,” writes Joshua Kosman in Sunday’s (9/25) San Francisco Chronicle (subscription required). “Mr. LeRoux pursued a remarkable range of musical activities. He served as principal oboist for the San Francisco Symphony, and later as conductor of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra.” LeRoux co-founded the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, taught at San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Mills College, and “once shared the podium of the War Memorial Opera House with Frank Zappa, taking turns conducting music by Anton Webern and Edgard Varèse.” Born April 15, 1927 in Le Mans, France, he trained in oboe at the Paris Conservatory, played with orchestras in Brazil and Uruguay, and moved to San Francisco in 1960. “In addition to a nearly 20-year tenure as assistant principal and principal oboe of the Symphony … he busied himself with the world of new music…. In his later years, he served as music director for the Calgary Ballet in Alberta. Survivors include his wife, Jane Roos,” and two sons and a daughter.
Posted September 27, 2016
