{"id":5719,"date":"2011-01-11T20:59:01","date_gmt":"2011-01-12T04:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=5719"},"modified":"2013-02-07T20:35:19","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T04:35:19","slug":"health-issues-for-former-oregon-symphony-music-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/01\/11\/health-issues-for-former-oregon-symphony-music-director\/","title":{"rendered":"health issues for former oregon symphony music director"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lawrence Leighton Smith at the Sunriver Music Festival, 2010. Photo: \u00a9 Charles Noble<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lawrence Leighton Smith, music director of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and formerly music director of the Oregon Symphony (1973-1980), has released information about his health, specifically that he suffers from Binswanger’s Disease (also known as subcortical vascular dementia), which, according to Wikipedia, is a form of multi-infarct dementia caused by damage to the white brain matter. White matter atrophy can be caused by many circumstances including chronic hypertension as well as old age. This disease is characterized by loss of memory and intellectual function and by changes in mood. These changes encompass what are known as executive functions of the brain. It usually presents itself in 54 and 66 years of age, and the first symptoms are usually mental deterioration or stroke<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Here’s the article<\/a> from the Colorado Springs Gazette<\/em>:<\/p>\n

A degenerative disease will keep Colorado Springs Philharmonic conductor Lawrence Leighton Smith from the podium for the orchestra\u2019s Feb. 19 performance.<\/p>\n

If all\u2019s well, though, Smith is scheduled to conduct the final two concerts of his last season with the orchestra: the Beethoven\u2019s 9th on April 16 and his farewell concert on May 21-22.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt depends on factors out of my control,\u201d said Smith of planning in general. \u201cI want to conduct, that\u2019s for sure. That part of my brain apparatus is exactly the way it was. And at 74, I\u2019ve had a darn good life.\u201dSmith was diagnosed with Binswanger\u2019s Disease last week.<\/p>\n

The illness, which is also called subcortical vascular dementia, is characterized by tiny but widespread damage in the deep layers of the brain. The damage is caused by the narrowing in arteries (commonly known as \u201chardening of the arteries\u201d) that carry blood to the brain. It typically starts late in life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been going on for quite a while,\u201d Smith said, adding that he\u2019s fine mentally. \u201cUnbeknownst to me there were symptoms. But I\u2019m doing fine. I\u2019m with the woman of my dreams, who is taking care of so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Symptoms include problems with short-term memory, organization, focus, decision making, appropriate behavior and mood changes. Most troubling to a performer, though, is probably the slowing translation of thought into movement.<\/p>\n

The diagnosis itself is something of a relief, Smith said.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s symptoms were not a factor when, in May 2009, he announced his retirement at the end of the season. In the meantime, five candidates are taking their shot at Smith\u2019s position in concerts throughout the season. The third, Viswa Subbaraman, takes the baton on Jan. 22.<\/p>\n

There is no cure, and any treatment addresses the symptoms, not the underlying cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of my journey,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThank God there\u2019s no pain. … I know what\u2019s going to happen (with the disease). I say, bring it on.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Larry at the Sunriver Music Festival for the last ten years, and I fully expect him to be able to resist this disease very ably.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawrence Leighton Smith, music director of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and formerly music director of the Oregon Symphony (1973-1980), has released information about his health, specifically that he suffers from Binswanger’s Disease (also known as subcortical vascular dementia), which, according to Wikipedia, is a form of multi-infarct dementia caused by damage to the white brain […]<\/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_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[299,2],"tags":[2495,2496,2494,982],"class_list":["post-5719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conducting","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-binswangers-disease","tag-colorado-springs","tag-lawrence-leighton-smith","tag-sunriver-music-festival"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1uf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6758,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/08\/17\/what-a-ride\/","url_meta":{"origin":5719,"position":0},"title":"what a ride!","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Former Oregon Symphony music director and Sunriver Music Festival music director Lawrence Leighton Smith has published a delightful memoir of his life in music, both as a pianist and conductor, entitled What a Ride!. He tells of his early associations with George Szell and Rudolph Serkin, to name just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","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\/2011\/08\/larrybook-300x464.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1073,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/08\/24\/sunriver-music-festival-roundup\/","url_meta":{"origin":5719,"position":1},"title":"sunriver music festival roundup","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"We just got back today from the lovely high desert resort community of Sunriver, located in Central Oregon about 15 miles south of Bend. \u00c2\u00a0This was the \u00c2\u00a0Sunriver festival's 31st year of existence, which is a great thing considering the quick and final (Chapter 7) demise of the Cascade Festival\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/srmf08poster-400x534.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":65,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/08\/13\/festival-report-sunriver-music-festival-week-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":5719,"position":2},"title":"festival report: sunriver music festival – week one","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This past Friday (11 August) I was pleased to give my first public performance of the Martinu Rhapsody-Concerto with the Sunriver Festival Orchestra and conductor Lawrence Leighton Smith. 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Our long time and beloved music director Lawrence Leighton Smith (or simply \"Larry\", as he's known to everyone here) has had to bow out of participating in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "summer festivals"","block_context":{"text":"summer festivals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/summer-festivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/IMG_8054-e1313384914626.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5165,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/08\/12\/sunriver-music-festival\/","url_meta":{"origin":5719,"position":5},"title":"sunriver music festival","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The postings have been few and far between lately, what with me being in Sunriver, Oregon for the 33rd edition of the Sunriver Music Festival.\u00a0 The festival got off to a running start with the opening night pops concert, featuring music from the 30's and 40's, which the audience greatly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "coffee"","block_context":{"text":"coffee","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/food-drink\/coffee-food-drink\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5719","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=5719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}