In Friday’s (3/1) San Francisco Chronicle, Joshua Kosman writes, “William Bennett, the longtime San Francisco Symphony oboist who suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on Saturday night while performing Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto with the orchestra in Davies Symphony Hall, died Thursday morning in a San Francisco hospital. He was 56. Mr. Bennett, known to friends and fans alike as Bill, was an artist of extraordinary skill and imagination, whose musical contributions were a consistent highlight of any performance in which he took part. … Most striking, though, were the liveliness and unpredictability of his artistic choices. … ‘I am heartbroken by the tragic death of Bill Bennett, which has left a terrible, sad emptiness in the hearts of the whole San Francisco Symphony family,’ Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas said in a statement. … [Bennett] studied oboe at Yale and at the Juilliard School, then joined the Symphony in 1979. In 1987 he succeeded Marc Lifschey as principal oboist. In 1992 he gave the world premiere of John Harbison’s Oboe Concerto, which was commissioned for him by the Symphony. He performed the piece on tour throughout Europe and the United States, and recorded it for Decca. He was also featured as soloist in works by Mozart, Vivaldi, Jean Françaix and Frank Martin.”
Posted March 1, 2013
