{"id":13505,"date":"2014-07-23T16:13:53","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T23:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=13505"},"modified":"2014-07-23T16:29:33","modified_gmt":"2014-07-23T23:29:33","slug":"rip-norman-leyden-1917-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2014\/07\/23\/rip-norman-leyden-1917-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"RIP: Norman Leyden (1917-2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_13507\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13507\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"13507\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2014\/07\/23\/rip-norman-leyden-1917-2014\/14700429-mmmain\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/14700429-mmmain.jpeg?fit=620%2C607&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"620,607\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-title=\"14700429-mmmain\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Norman Leyden | Photo: John Rudoff.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/14700429-mmmain.jpeg?fit=500%2C489&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13507\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/14700429-mmmain-500x489.jpeg?resize=500%2C489\" alt=\"Norman Leyden | Photo: John Rudoff.\" width=\"500\" height=\"489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/14700429-mmmain.jpeg?resize=500%2C489&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/14700429-mmmain.jpeg?resize=200%2C195&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/14700429-mmmain.jpeg?resize=300%2C293&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/14700429-mmmain.jpeg?w=620&amp;ssl=1 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13507\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Norman Leyden | Photo: John Rudoff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It was with great sadness that I learned today of the death of the Oregon Symphony&#8217;s Laureate Assistant Conductor Norman Leyden at the age of 96. Norman initiated the Oregon Symphony&#8217;s pops series in 1970, and led it successfully for the next 34 years. Many credit Norman with keeping the Oregon Symphony afloat during many lean years through the success of his pops concerts, and it&#8217;s hard to argue with that assertion. I don&#8217;t know what I can really say about this huge loss to the musical world, but I can reprint what I wrote back in 2012:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I have more than one hero in my life \u2013 some are heroes of the personal order, some professional. And some are both. Perhaps nearest to my heart is a man who began his upward trajectory in his career after being discovered playing with a band in Atlantic City in 1942 by none other than the great Glen Miller, who said \u201cFor a Yale man you don\u2019t play bad tenor [sax]\u201c. That Yale man was (and is) Norman Leyden. Norm is 94 years old this year (and will turn 95 in October), and still practices the clarinet pretty much every day. Last night, he did a show in Eugene with Pink Martini, and pretty much stole the show after being received with an incredibly warm standing ovation by the crowd. If there is a warmer or more generous soul in the music business, I don\u2019t know of one. If there is a more thoroughly professional and disciplined musician, I don\u2019t know of one. Norman just lives his life the way all of us want to, but few of us are able to accomplish. Bravo, Norman!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a photo snapped by OSO principal violist Jo\u00ebl Belgique at that same Pink Martini show:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13506\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13506\" style=\"width: 599px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"13506\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2014\/07\/23\/rip-norman-leyden-1917-2014\/leyden-noble-sm-599x449\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/leyden-noble-sm-599x449.jpg?fit=599%2C449&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"599,449\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-title=\"leyden-noble-sm-599&amp;#215;449\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Norman Leyden and Charles Noble in Eugene, Oregon, July 1, 2012.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/leyden-noble-sm-599x449.jpg?fit=500%2C374&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13506\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/leyden-noble-sm-599x449.jpg?resize=580%2C435\" alt=\"Norman Leyden and Charles Noble in Eugene, Oregon, July 1, 2012.\" width=\"580\" height=\"435\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/leyden-noble-sm-599x449.jpg?resize=599%2C449&amp;ssl=1 599w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/leyden-noble-sm-599x449.jpg?resize=200%2C149&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/leyden-noble-sm-599x449.jpg?resize=300%2C224&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/leyden-noble-sm-599x449.jpg?resize=500%2C374&amp;ssl=1 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13506\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Norman Leyden and Charles Noble in Eugene, Oregon, July 1, 2012.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>And here&#8217;s Norman in July 2013 with Pink Martini at the Hollywood Bowl:<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"580\" height=\"327\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9F3aFVmJ8Ic?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was with great sadness that I learned today of the death of the Oregon Symphony&#8217;s Laureate Assistant Conductor Norman Leyden at the age of 96. Norman initiated the Oregon Symphony&#8217;s pops series in 1970, and led it successfully for the next 34 years. Many credit Norman with keeping the Oregon Symphony afloat during many [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,1046],"tags":[3562,3564,108,3668,3563,3118],"class_list":["post-13505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-pops-music","tag-1917-2014","tag-assistant-conductor-laureate","tag-norman-leyden","tag-oregon-symphony","tag-pops-conductor","tag-rip"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-3vP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8159,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/01\/19\/norman-keeps-stormin\/","url_meta":{"origin":13505,"position":0},"title":"norman keeps stormin&#8217;","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night the Oregon Symphony played a run-out concert in Newberg - a smallish town at the northern end of the Oregon wine country. It was a pops concert, conducted by our Principal pops conductor Jeff Tyzik, who did his usual impeccable job. What was remarkable last night was the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;pops&quot;","block_context":{"text":"pops","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/pops-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Norman Leyden | Oregon Symphony","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/leyden4_original1-300x198.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4021,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/02\/12\/storm-warning\/","url_meta":{"origin":13505,"position":1},"title":"storm warning","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This Friday Saturday we're doing a one-night-only show with local sensation Storm Large.\u00a0 I had heard of Storm, but not actually heard her, and I was pleasantly surprised by her vocal prowess in sets largely made up of standards from the Great American Songbook.\u00a0 Songs by Elvis Costello, Storm Large,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;popular music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"popular music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/popular-music-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":496,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/10\/17\/a-living-legend-reaches-90\/","url_meta":{"origin":13505,"position":2},"title":"a living legend reaches 90","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow. I am stunned - and I'm ashamed that I'm stunned. I went to the Norman Leyden 90th birthday concert at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall this evening (which was presented by the Oregon Symphony). I don't know what I was expecting, but I got a master class in what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;the orchestra world&quot;","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/leyden.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":728,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/01\/cheap-seats-the-oso\/","url_meta":{"origin":13505,"position":3},"title":"cheap seats @ the oso","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks for generous support from Symphony sponsor Wells Fargo, now through February 8th, the Oregon Symphony will be offering all seats for the remainder of the season at either $20 or $50 each (except for the Eartha Kitt concert). There's lots of great stuff to grab tickets for, here are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12467,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/02\/11\/portland-chamber-orchestra-honors-leyden\/","url_meta":{"origin":13505,"position":4},"title":"portland chamber orchestra presents film concert and honors leyden","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"February 22, 2013 at 7:30pm Village Church, Beaverton 330 Southwest Murray Boulevard Beaverton, OR February 23, 2013 at 7:30pm Scottish Rite Center 709 Southwest 15th Avenue Portland, OR Presented on the weekend of the 2013 Academy Awards, The Music of Film highlights film scores from past Oscar-nominated movies! From well-known\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;the orchestra world&quot;","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"MOF_Postard2013_FINAL-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/MOF_Postard2013_FINAL-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/MOF_Postard2013_FINAL-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/MOF_Postard2013_FINAL-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":511,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/11\/02\/more-ink-on-the-oso\/","url_meta":{"origin":13505,"position":5},"title":"more ink on the OSO","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Stephen Marc Beaudoin just wrote a piece for Crosscut which is entitled \"Can Anyone Fix the Oregon Symphony?\".\u00c2\u00a0 Squarely in his sights is the newly-formed collaboration with Pink Martini front man Thomas Lauderdale.\u00c2\u00a0 Clearly, Beaudoin does not know of Lauderdale's training as a classical pianist, for he seems to find\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}