Conductor Gerhardt Zimmermann
In Saturday’s (6/10) Canton Repository (Ohio), Kelli Weir writes, “Days after revealing he was under hospice care, Canton Symphony Orchestra’s decades-long conductor Gerhardt Zimmermann has died at age 77…. His wife, Sharon, announced that Zimmermann had died at 10:38 a.m. Saturday. The news comes just two days after the family notified the orchestra community that Zimmermann had transitioned to hospice care after a significant decline in his health. An obituary for Zimmermann said he had … lung disease … and was unresponsive to treatment…. A native of Van Wert, Ohio, Zimmermann had served as the orchestra’s conductor since 1980, bringing local audiences works by Wagner, Beethoven and Mahler and guest artists such as André Watts, Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. Zimmermann, for whom the symphony’s performing arts center is named, originally had planned to step down as maestro in 2026…. The Canton Symphony Orchestra posted a message on social media Saturday that reflected on Zimmermann’s impact on the local community and beyond…. Zimmermann conducted renowned orchestras across the world … and international orchestras and opera companies. He was conductor of the North Carolina Symphony for 21 years … He also served as the conductor for 13 years at the University of Texas Butler School of Music, where he was named music director laureate.”
