MITCHELL LURIE, Clarinetist

Mitchell Lurie, a world-renowned clarinetist and clarinet teacher who taught for many years at USC and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, has died. He was 86. Lurie, who had been in ill health in recent years, died of pneumonia 24 November 2008 at his home in West Los Angeles.

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RICHARD HICKOX

Opera Australia has been shocked by the sudden death of British conductor Richard Hickox, the company's music director. Hickox, 60, suffered a heart attack in London. The news was still filtering out tonight to members of Opera Australia. A shocked Murray Black, The Australian's Sydney opera and classical music critic, said one of Hickox's legacies would be his versatility as a conductor.

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Heitor Villa-Lobos

1959 Death of Brazilian composer, pianist and conductor Heitor Villa-Lobos, at 72 in Rio de Janeiro. b-Rio de Janeiro, 5 MAR 1887. Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887 – November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, easily the best-known classical composer born in South America. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works. His music was influenced by both Brazilian folk music and by stylistic elements from the European classical tradition, as exemplified by his Bachianas brasileiras ("Brazilian Bach-pieces").

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Conductor Pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy

The Sydney Symphony's next leader has arrived early, and he has hit the ground running, writes Harriet Cunningham.

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