“Paul Lustig Dunkel, co-founder of the American Composers Orchestra, founding music director of the Westchester Philharmonic, and longtime principal flute of the New York City Ballet, died on January 14 after a long illness,” writes Susan Elliott in Wednesday’s (1/17) Musicalamerica.com (subscription required). “A native New Yorker, he was also a founding member of Music from Copland House and had a keen interest in contemporary music. He launched the ACO in 1978 with Dennis Russell Davies and composers Francis Thorne and Nicolas Roussakis, selecting the players and serving as principal flute until he was named resident conductor in 1989. He founded the New Orchestra of Westchester, now the Westchester Philharmonic, five years later…. In 2008 Dunkel was named the music director emeritus of the Westchester Philharmonic, which to this day is still going strong under the baton of Ted Sperling…. Dunkel taught at the New England Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music, Queens College, Vassar College, the University of Connecticut, and the College at Purchase (SUNY)…. A tribute on February 25 at the New York Flute Fair will feature his transcription of Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata and his own Quatre Visions for four flutes.”
Posted January 18, 2018
