Peabody Conservatory

Even the most steeped-in-Baltimore-history types might stare blankly at the mention of Asger Hamerik, but the Danish composer played a crucial, longtime role in the city's cultural history. Hamerik arrived in Baltimore in 1871 to become the second director of the still young Peabody Institute, a post he held for 27 years. During that period, the music conservatory came into its own. Hamerik ushered in tough academic standards. As Ray Robinson's "A History of the Peabody Conservatory of Music" (1969)

A reception will be held Wednesday at the Peabody Conservatory in honor of the late Mary C. Walker, who upon her death donated $800,000 to the institution where she studied and worked for most of her life. The bulk of Walker's gift - $600,000 - is being designated for undergraduate scholarships, the Conservatory announced recently. The remaining $200,000 will be split evenly between the alumni fund and the archives. Walker was a granddaughter of a man who made his fortune in the 19 t h century in the meatpacking business.

Casey Butler, the young Peabody Conservatory student who collapsed and died Monday during her weekly bassoon lesson, had a simple and extravagantly beautiful motto: "Life is music. " That's quite different from its transposition, "Music is life," which tends to suggest obsessive pursuit of technical perfection or a tendency to regard music as something wholly separate — a discipline, or commercial enterprise — from the world that inspires it. I did not know Casey Butler, but her motto suggests someone in full embrace of her world, in love with life, listening closely and hearing beauty in its shouts and whispers.

Lynn Taylor Hebden, a Baltimore-born lyric soprano who headed the Peabody Preparatory Department for more than two decades and was also a member of the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory, died Sunday from complications of breast cancer at her Roland Park home. She was 84. "I always sought her advice and historical perspective. She always was very interested and wanted to know how people on the faculty she had known were doing," said Carolee Stewart, the preparatory school's dean.

A reception will be held Wednesday at the Peabody Conservatory in honor of the late Mary C. Walker, who upon her death donated $800,000 to the institution where she studied and worked for most of her life. The bulk of Walker's gift - $600,000 - is being designated for undergraduate scholarships, the Conservatory announced recently. The remaining $200,000 will be split evenly between the alumni fund and the archives. Walker was a granddaughter of a man who made his fortune in the 19 t h century in the meatpacking business.

In terms of talent, glamour and wide appeal, few opera singers today rank as high as mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. No wonder there's quite a buzz at the Peabody Conservatory, where Graves will join the voice faculty in the fall. People are still talking about a master class that Graves gave at the conservatory last September. "She didn't know she was auditioning," said Phyllis Bryn-Julson, the distinguished soprano who chairs the voice department. "It was a phenomenal day for the students.

Hajime Teri Murai has been appointed as the Peabody Conservatory of Music's chief conductor. The conservatory announced yesterday that Murai will be the first occupant of the Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Music Director Chair, which was established last summer as part of a $3 million gift from the Blaustein-Rosenberg-Thalheimer family group.The 37-year-old Murai -- who was born in San Francisco, is currently the chief conductor of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and has won numerous awards for adventurous programming -- is the first resident conductor of the Peabody Conservatory since the departure of Peter Eros five years ago.Because of the conservatory's financial problems and uncertainty about its future in recent years, it became impossible to fill so major a position until Peabody's problems were resolved last summer.

Mary Jane Brown, a tap dancer whose career spanned 30 years and who later taught dance at the Peabody Conservatory, died Saturday of cancer at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care in Towson. She was 80.Ms. Brown, who lived in the Village of Cross Keys, taught at Peabody from 1992 until May. She was known for her inventive classes, patience with students and a "drill sergeant" manner of instruction."She was tough, very tough, but she taught so brilliantly," said Marjorie Liss, one of Ms. Brown's former students and now a music professor at Peabody.

Around town: Lots of famous faces were spotted in our fair city this past week, and two of them were at the Peabody Court Hotel. Jim Palmer fans called to say they were thrilled to be having dinner at a table near his in the elegant Peabody Conservatory, while other hotel guests were astonished to see Lassie walk into the hotel.Yep, Lassie, the movie dog, was a guest at the Peabody, along with his press agent and trainer. Lassie was in town for the American Kennel Club's National Invitational Dog Championship, and I hear he left a paw print photo for the hotel staff.

That strange mix of wailing and whimpering you might have been hearing is not from folks sick of shoveling snow, but the Pavlovian reflex of certain music lovers upon learning that compositions from the Second Viennese School have been added to the winter calendar. Thanks to the Peabody Conservatory - and I really do mean thanks - concertgoers have an unusual opportunity coming up to sample the art of Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg and Anton Webern. These revolutionary, Vienna-based composers generated the most provocative and influential sounds in that city since the days of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven (you could call them the First Viennese School, except that title isn't commonly used)

Betty G. Hocker, a retired Baltimore opera singer and composer who wrote the "Fort McHenry March" at the time of the nation's bicentennial, died Saturday of complications from dementia at Stella Maris Hospice. The longtime Roland Park resident was 101. The daughter of a businessman and a homemaker, Sara Elizabeth "Betty" Gumpper was born into a musical family in Butler, Pa. Her father played the banjo and piano and had a small band, while her mother also played the piano and sang.

In terms of talent, glamour and wide appeal, few opera singers today rank as high as mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. No wonder there's quite a buzz at the Peabody Conservatory, where Graves will join the voice faculty in the fall. People are still talking about a master class that Graves gave at the conservatory last September. "She didn't know she was auditioning," said Phyllis Bryn-Julson, the distinguished soprano who chairs the voice department. "It was a phenomenal day for the students.

Loraine P. Bernstein, a musical trust's administrator who assisted young musicians in gaining an audience, died of a heart attack Tuesday at Good Samaritan Hospital. The Mount Washington resident was 82. Born Loraine Panek in Warehouse Point, Conn., she was the youngest of three children of Polish immigrant farmers who raised vegetables and cigar tobacco in the Connecticut River Valley. "She was a child of the Depression and had lots of stories about the farm she used to her advantage during my childhood," said her son, Richard M. Bernstein of Freeland.

Casey Butler, the young Peabody Conservatory student who collapsed and died Monday during her weekly bassoon lesson, had a simple and extravagantly beautiful motto: "Life is music. " That's quite different from its transposition, "Music is life," which tends to suggest obsessive pursuit of technical perfection or a tendency to regard music as something wholly separate — a discipline, or commercial enterprise — from the world that inspires it. I did not know Casey Butler, but her motto suggests someone in full embrace of her world, in love with life, listening closely and hearing beauty in its shouts and whispers.

An 18-year-old bassoonist at the Peabody Conservatory collapsed during a private lesson Monday and was declared dead at Mercy Medical Center, a school spokesman said. Casey Butler, a first-year student at the conservatory, was in the midst of her weekly lesson about 12:30 p.m. when she lost consciousness, said Richard Selden, the spokesman. "In a small community such as ours, a loss such as this touches every individual," said Jeffrey Sharkey, the institute director, in an e-mail to students and faculty.

Even the most steeped-in-Baltimore-history types might stare blankly at the mention of Asger Hamerik, but the Danish composer played a crucial, longtime role in the city's cultural history. Hamerik arrived in Baltimore in 1871 to become the second director of the still young Peabody Institute, a post he held for 27 years. During that period, the music conservatory came into its own. Hamerik ushered in tough academic standards. As Ray Robinson's "A History of the Peabody Conservatory of Music" (1969)

Lynn Taylor Hebden, a Baltimore-born lyric soprano who headed the Peabody Preparatory Department for more than two decades and was also a member of the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory, died Sunday from complications of breast cancer at her Roland Park home. She was 84. "I always sought her advice and historical perspective. She always was very interested and wanted to know how people on the faculty she had known were doing," said Carolee Stewart, the preparatory school's dean.

Gilbert Melvin Cohen, a salesman who opened his Mount Vernon Place apartment to friends and musicians, including students from the neighboring Peabody Conservatory, died Tuesday of complications from leukemia at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. He was 80. Born in Baltimore and raised in Park Heights, Mr. Cohen attended the old Louisa May Alcott School No. 59 and was a 1944 graduate of Forest Park High School, where he was class president and played soccer. He enlisted in the Navy and was a radio operator aboard a vessel in the Caribbean near the end of World War II. As a young man Mr. Cohen considered going into theater, but instead he honored his parents' request that he join them in running their men's and women's clothing business, the Exclusive Shop at 322 W. Baltimore St. "He loved sales because he loved the people connected to it."

Even the most steeped-in-Baltimore-history types might stare blankly at the mention of Asger Hamerik, but the Danish composer played a crucial, longtime role in the city's cultural history. Hamerik arrived in Baltimore in 1871 to become the second director of the still young Peabody Institute, a post he held for 27 years. During that period, the music conservatory came into its own. Hamerik ushered in tough academic standards. As Ray Robinson's "A History of the Peabody Conservatory of Music" (1969)