Ganz

On October 14, 2005, ROBERT W. GANZ, SR., of Stevensville, MD; beloved husband of the late Ida Lucille Ganz; loving father of Diana Ziegler, Roberta Staley and Robert W. Ganz, Jr.; beloved grandfather of eight grandchildren; one step-grandchild and five great-grandchildren. Family and friends are invited to BARRANCO & SONS, P.A. SEVERNA PARK FUNERAL HOME, Ritchie Highway, at Robinson Road, on Monday, 6 to 8 P.M. and Tuesday, 10 to 11 A.M. with a service at 11 A.M. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Coastal Conservation of Maryland, Kent Narrows Chapter, C/O CCA of Maryland, 101 Ridgely Avenue, Suite 12A, Annapolis, MD 21401 or to the Kent Island Fire Department, P/O Box 27, Stevensville, MD 21666.

Concerts Pianist Brian Ganz will return to his hometown of Columbia to once again perform at the Sundays at Three chamber music concert series this Sunday, Nov. 6, p.m., at Christ Episcopal Church, located at 6800 Oakland Mills Road. Ganz is now based in Annapolis and regularly performs all over the world and earlier this year performed works by Chopin in that composer's homeland, Poland. He is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory, where he studied under Leon Fleisher.

IF IT ISN'T blood running through Susan Ganz's veins, it must be thread - blue thread. Ganz's life for nearly two decades has been woven tightly to a century-old textile business that by all rights should have died long ago. The business is an anachronism, a manufacturer in Owings Mills that operates in a squat, gray 1950-ish building next to a Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. "I fell in love with it," said Ganz, the chief executive of Lion Brothers Co. Oddly, this dowdy, 106-year-old company with 640 employees is responsible for keeping alive the images of some of the world's coolest, hippest and best-known brands.

The boy was 11, already well along in his process of discovering music, when he found himself alone at home one day, listening to a piece by one of history's great romantics. He couldn't explain it, but something in the sounds of Frederic Chopin's Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Opus 23 — as played by Polish musician Witold Malcuzynsky — struck Brian Ganz like a bolt from stormy skies. "It was mysterious, sort of soulful, and I actually, literally, doubled over in pain," says Ganz, an internationally celebrated concert pianist who lives in Annapolis.

In music, as in fashion and a host of other endeavors, exoticism sells. It is this capitalistic imperative, coupled with our natural feeling that the cachet-laden foreign model must somehow be superior to the domestic one, that whispers to us that pianists from, say, Vienna, Seoul or Tashkent are better than the home-grown variety. That stereotype was exposed for the nonsense it is Saturday at Maryland Hall when Brian Ganz, a concert pianist from exotic, far-off Crownsville, made his long overdue debut with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra.

When Brian Ganz quit high school at age 16, he did so with the blessing of his parents, both teachers.The Columbia teen's passion for playing the piano had developed into a burning pursuit of perfection. Four years earlier, a piano teacher had recognized his musical talent and encouraged his family to support it."My parents told me, 'If you really want to go for this, we encourage you to put all of your eggs into one basket.' If you have a gift, you have to put everything you've got into it," Ganz said.

Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz was sprawled out on the ground, trainers huddled around him, teammates, coaches and fans wondering whether he would be able to continue playing yesterday. Ganz eventually made his way to the sideline, cleared his head, got back in the game and ended up hoisting the Gator Bowl's Most Valuable Player trophy. His comeback provided an appropriate ending for Nebraska's season. After all, the Cornhuskers enjoyed one of college football's best turnarounds. Ganz shook off a horrible first half and a slight concussion, threw for two touchdowns and led Nebraska to a 26-21 win over Clemson in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., giving the storied program plenty of optimism after coach Bo Pelini's first season.

Thelma and Carl Ganz of Annapolis have reached a milestone: They are celebrating their 72nd wedding anniversary today.Her sense of humor intact, Mrs. Ganz says: "I'm surprised [the marriage] lasted this long. I didn't think it would last a year."They were married in 1925 in the Roaring '20s."I guess you could say that I was a flapper," says Mrs. Ganz, who at 92 is a slender woman with red nails and styled hair. "But we didn't call ourselves that at the time."Mr. Ganz, now 96, uses a wheelchair because of hip problems.

Brussels' Queen Elisabeth Competition, one of the world's most prestigious musical contests and one of the most accurate predictors of future success, awarded second- and third-prize medals yesterday to Peabody Conservatory piano student Stephen Prutsman and to former Peabody student Bryan Ganz. They were the only two Americans in a field of 81 players to reach the finals in the monthlong contest that Belgians regard with the enthusiasm that Americans reserve for the World Series or the Super Bowl.

The entrance to the budding development where Bill Ganz bought his new home is directly off Key Highway on Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Driving along a makeshift dirt road, on what seems like a typical construction site, a startling discovery awaits. The five-story brick townhouses here do not sit on terra firma. Two long rows of houses face each other, ending at a horizon line. They, and the narrow road between them, have been built on a pier, the water below making audible lapping sounds.

Brian Ganz is preparing to climb a musical Mt. Everest. He wants to perform all 250 keyboard-based works of Frederic Chopin. He's in no hurry, though. "This will probably take the better part of a decade," he said. Ganz will give a preview of the venture Saturday in Annapolis. The Chopin project will then be launched with a recital next month at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, where Ganz will eventually perform Chopin's piano/orchestra works with the National Philharmonic.

Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz was sprawled out on the ground, trainers huddled around him, teammates, coaches and fans wondering whether he would be able to continue playing yesterday. Ganz eventually made his way to the sideline, cleared his head, got back in the game and ended up hoisting the Gator Bowl's Most Valuable Player trophy. His comeback provided an appropriate ending for Nebraska's season. After all, the Cornhuskers enjoyed one of college football's best turnarounds. Ganz shook off a horrible first half and a slight concussion, threw for two touchdowns and led Nebraska to a 26-21 win over Clemson in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., giving the storied program plenty of optimism after coach Bo Pelini's first season.

Fall may mean back to school and football games for county residents, but it also heralds kickoff time for the many groups that constitute Columbia's vibrant cultural life. One of the finest of these organizations, Sundays at Three, celebrates the opening of its 2007- 2008 performance season with a 3 p.m. recital Sunday by acclaimed pianist Brian Ganz. Since 1996, Sundays at Three has offered some of the area's best chamber music in Christ Episcopal Church's superb acoustics. High-caliber performances of both familiar masterpieces as well as new works are always followed by the opportunity to meet the artists.

On July 23, 2006, MARY K. WATKINS (nee Kauffman); beloved wife of the late Howard E. Watkins; devoted mother Louise E. Roberts and her husband Donald R. Roberts, Sr.; devoted grandmother of Donald R. Roberts II and his wife Denise Roberts, Sharon Lackey and the late Angela Ganz and her surviving husband Bill Ganz. She is also survived by a great-grandson Ryan Lackey and his father Sherrill Lackey. Friends may call at the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc., 1050 York Road (beltway exit 26a)

The entrance to the budding development where Bill Ganz bought his new home is directly off Key Highway on Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Driving along a makeshift dirt road, on what seems like a typical construction site, a startling discovery awaits. The five-story brick townhouses here do not sit on terra firma. Two long rows of houses face each other, ending at a horizon line. They, and the narrow road between them, have been built on a pier, the water below making audible lapping sounds.

On October 14, 2005, ROBERT W. GANZ, SR., of Stevensville, MD; beloved husband of the late Ida Lucille Ganz; loving father of Diana Ziegler, Roberta Staley and Robert W. Ganz, Jr.; beloved grandfather of eight grandchildren; one step-grandchild and five great-grandchildren. Family and friends are invited to BARRANCO & SONS, P.A. SEVERNA PARK FUNERAL HOME, Ritchie Highway, at Robinson Road, on Monday, 6 to 8 P.M. and Tuesday, 10 to 11 A.M. with a service at 11 A.M. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Coastal Conservation of Maryland, Kent Narrows Chapter, C/O CCA of Maryland, 101 Ridgely Avenue, Suite 12A, Annapolis, MD 21401 or to the Kent Island Fire Department, P/O Box 27, Stevensville, MD 21666.

On July 23, 2006, MARY K. WATKINS (nee Kauffman); beloved wife of the late Howard E. Watkins; devoted mother Louise E. Roberts and her husband Donald R. Roberts, Sr.; devoted grandmother of Donald R. Roberts II and his wife Denise Roberts, Sharon Lackey and the late Angela Ganz and her surviving husband Bill Ganz. She is also survived by a great-grandson Ryan Lackey and his father Sherrill Lackey. Friends may call at the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc., 1050 York Road (beltway exit 26a)

The Peabody Conservatory came up with a 2-3 punch this weekend as two of its graduates, Maryland pianists and friends Stephen Prutsman and Brian Ganz won the $11,400 second prize and $10,000 third prize respectively in the top-rated Queen Elizabeth of Belgian Piano Competition in Brussels."

On August 24, 2005, WILLIAM JOHN GANZ SR., beloved husband of Amelia, loving father of William John Ganz Jr., and his wife Judith, Robert J. Ganz and his wife Dottie and Sally L. Russell and her husband Richard, cherished Grand Dad of Kimberly, Bridget and Billy III and great grandchild Brooklyn. Relatives and friends may call at the family owned AMBROSE FUNERAL HOME INC., 1328 Sulphur Spring Rd., Arbutus, on Monday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. where funeral services will be held Tuesday at 10 A.M. Interment to immediately follow in Crestlawn Memorial Gardens.

IF IT ISN'T blood running through Susan Ganz's veins, it must be thread - blue thread. Ganz's life for nearly two decades has been woven tightly to a century-old textile business that by all rights should have died long ago. The business is an anachronism, a manufacturer in Owings Mills that operates in a squat, gray 1950-ish building next to a Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. "I fell in love with it," said Ganz, the chief executive of Lion Brothers Co. Oddly, this dowdy, 106-year-old company with 640 employees is responsible for keeping alive the images of some of the world's coolest, hippest and best-known brands.