Orchestra conductor Kurt Masur dies at 88

New York, Dec 20 (IANS/EFE) German orchestra conductor Kurt Masur, who gave new life to the New York Philharmonic, has died in the US state of Connecticut, the orchestra said in a communique. He was 88.

"It is with the deepest sadness that I write on behalf of the Masur family and the New York Philharmonic that Kurt Masur... passed away," Matthew VanBesien, president of the orchestra, said in the communique after Masur died on Saturday.

Masur, born in Brieg town in 1927, was music director of the New York Philharmonic for over a decade between 1991-2002, and was later named music director emeritus.

During his 11 years leading this orchestra -- one of the longest in that position in the history of the New York Philharmonic -- he "set a standard" and "left a legacy that lives on today", VanBesien said.

"What we remember most vividly is Masur's profound belief in music as an expression of humanism," said the orchestra president,

"We felt this powerfully in the wake of 9/11, when he led the Philharmonic in a moving performance of Brahms's 'Ein Deutsches Requiem,' and musicians from the Orchestra gave free chamber concerts around Ground Zero."

--IANS/EFE

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