I’m in the process of writing a newsy post about the upcoming 30th season, which I hope to send out tomorrow, but I need to share this right away.

It’s with great personal sadness that I share the news that David Maslanka passed late on Sunday night. He had a short two-month battle with colon cancer.

We performed David’s Give Us This Day in both Tarrytown and Evanston in 2015, and his On This Bright Morning in Tarrytown (2016) and Syracuse (2017). I was a member of the Northwestern SWE in 1981 when we premiered his Piano Concerto No. 1, and Mr. Paynter subsequently premiered his A Child’s Garden of Dreams the following year at NU. The first field trip I took at NVOT was with my Concert Band to hear the Northwestern SWE perform A Child’s Garden of Dreams at Symphony Space in 1982. In the mid-80’s, while visiting the Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library, I literally bumped into David while browsing the stacks. The happenstance conversation that followed, about his compositions and his work with Mr. Paynter, is still fresh in my mind. His Symphony No. 4 is one of the most powerful works I’ve ever experienced, and I hope to program it with WSW someday. But he was also able to write for developing bands; I performed his Rollo Takes a Walk with my 9th grade Concert Band at NVOT in 2008 and 2012, a delightful and accessible piece for young players.

I wrote to David in 2015 when I programmed Give Us This Day, and his son, Matt, replied on his behalf. I’ve written to Matt to convey condolences on behalf of our ensemble.

There will undoubtedly be scores of tributes and memorials in the coming months. I will keep you posted.

I’m including an iconic recording of his Symphony No. 4, below. If you have 28 minutes to spare, I urge you to find some headphones and a corner to sit alone with this amazing music. The work defines cathartic.