A former teacher of mine, composer Jorge Liderman, has been killed in an apparent suicide.

So terribly ironic minutes after Andy D's topic. For those of you who knew him, please accept my sympathies and I'm sorry you had to find out through a message board.



He was for a long time fighting depression, and I was not often in touch with him. We had our differences, to say the least. But he was a passionate advocate for his pupils, and deeply cared about music in all its forms. He will be missed. UC Berkeley, and the contemporary music world as a whole, has lost a real Mensch. He is survived by his wife, Mimi...

I'm terrible at this! Just read the article below:

SFGate report, February 4th

I didn't know him, or his music, Dishers. But my sympathies to you. Sometimes it's the teachers with whom we come to mental fisticuffs that in retrospect turn out to be the most valuable to us in shaping what we believe. I'm sensing this may have been the case with you. 

Yes, he will surely get a tribute concert or two. "It's the least we can do." and so we will do it. At least.

But if as autoh has motivated, some people from these pages get to know his work, I will feel like I've done some good by reporting this terrible story.

I don't deserve the sympathies, let's make this not about me. Jorge and I had a mutual respect, but I feel particularly bad for those who were much closer to him than I. It's so recent, please disregard any weirdness in the formulations in this post. Just go to the website and get a taste. He has a pretty large discography as well, esp for his age. "Song of Songs" (2002) was a defining piece for his career to date.

Yikes.  I've heard his name here and there, but know nothing about his work.  As usual, the hope is that some people will get to know his music by coming across his name, however terrible the circumstances; that's the best that can be hoped for...