“Robert Commanday, whose knowledgeable and forceful writing about the world of classical music and dance filled the pages of The Chronicle for nearly three decades, died Thursday,” writes Joshua Kosman in Saturday’s (9/5) San Francisco Chronicle. “Commanday’s tenure at The Chronicle, from 1964 to 1993, offered him a highly visible perch from which to engage with the musical world around him.… Before joining the staff of the newspaper, he had spent some two decades as a choral conductor and music educator, and after leaving The Chronicle he helped revolutionize the online world of music criticism by founding the website San Francisco Classical Voice…. He was fierce in his advocacy for American composers … and often editorialized in favor of the work of particular Bay Area composers.… Robert Paul Commanday was born June 18, 1922, in Yonkers, N.Y. His musical training was at Harvard and the Juilliard School…. In 1976 he was awarded the prestigious Deems Taylor Award by ASCAP…. Commanday is survived by his wife, Mary; his son David, conductor of the Heartland Festival Orchestra in Peoria, Ill.; daughter Michal; stepson Tom Stevens; and stepdaughter Anne Stevens. His stepson, J. Christopher Stevens, was the U.S. ambassador to Libya who was killed in Benghazi during the attacks of Sept. 11, 2012.”
Posted September 8, 2015
