Year 1943 in Music History

• Feb 28 George Gershwin's "Porgy & Bess" opens on Broadway with Anne Brown & Todd Duncan
• Apr 28 1st performance of Marc Blitzstein's "Freedom Morning"

• Apr 30 Noël Coward's play "This Happy Breed" premieres in London

• Oct 7 Weill, Perelman and Nash' musical "One Touch of Venus" premieres in NYC
• Oct 19 Theater Guild presentation of "Othello" opens at Shubert

• Dec 20 "Internationale" is no longer USSR National Anthem
• Dec 23 1st telecast of a complete opera (Hansel & Gretel), Schenectady, NY
• Dec 31 NYC's Times Square greets Frank Sinatra at Paramount Theater

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 308

• Jan 2 Barış Manço, Turkish singer and television producer (d. 1999)
• Jan 3 Van Dyke Parks, American songwriter/producer/arranger (Song Cycle; Orange Crate Art), born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi
• Jan 3 Petras Bingelis, Lithuania conductor, founder and artistic director (Kaunas State Choir, 1969-2020), born in Mardasava, Lithuania (d. 2020)
• Jan 3 HK Gruber, Austrian double bassist, conductor, and composer (Frankenstein!!), born in Vienna, Austria
• Jan 7 Leona Williams, American country music singer (Ladies Get the Blues), born in Vienna, Missouri
• Jan 7 Richard Armstrong, British conductor, born in Leicester, England
• Jan 8 Lee Jackson, English bass guitarist & singer-songwriter (Nice), born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England
• Jan 8 Marcus Hutson, American musician (Whispers), born in St. Louis, Missouri
• Jan 9 Dick Yount, American rock bassist and singer (Harpers Bizarre - "Feelin' Groovy") (d. 2019)
• Jan 9 Kenneth "Wally" Kelly, American R&B singer (Manhattans - "Kiss And Say Goodbye"), born in New Jersey (d. 2015)
• Jan 9 Rob Hoeke, Dutch pianist & singer (Drinking on My Bed), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1999)
• Jan 9 Freddie Starr, English comedian & singer (The Freddie Starr Showcase), born in Huyton, United Kingdom (d. 2019)
• Jan 9 Scott Walker [Noel Scott Engel], American-born British singer-songwriter and composer (The Walker Brothers), born in Hamilton, Ohio (d. 2019)
• Jan 9 Ariel Bybee, American mezzo-soprano (Morman Tabernacle Choir; Metropolitan Opera, 1977-95), born in Reno, Nevada (d. 2018)
• Jan 10 Jim Croce, American singer-songwriter ("Time in a Bottle"; "Bad, Bad LeRoy Brown"), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1973)
• Jan 11 William Albert Penn, composer
• Jan 13 William Duckworth, American composer (Time Curve Preludes), teacher (Bucknell, 1973-2011), and internet pioneer (PitchWeb), born in Morganton, North Carolina (d. 2012)
• Jan 14 Jose Luis Rodriguez, Venezuelan singer (Dueno De Nada), born in Caracas, Venezuela
• Jan 14 Mariss Jansons, Latvian conductor (Bavarian RSO (2003-2019); Royal Concertgebouw (2004-2015), born in Riga, Latvia (d. 2019)
• Jan 16 Brian Ferneyhough, British composer, born in Coventry, United Kingdom
• Jan 16 Gavin Bryars, English composer, born in Goole, United Kingdom
• Jan 16 Ronnie Milsap, American country singer (Legend in My Time), born in Robbinsville, North Carolina
• Jan 17 (Ezekiel Christopher) "Chris" Montez, American rock guitarist and singer ("Let's Dance"; "Call Me"), born in Los Angeles, California

• Jan 20 Farhad [Mehrad], Iranian pop, rock and folk singer-songwriter ("Jomeh"), born in Tehran, Iran (d. 2002)
• Jan 23 Jimmy Castor, American pop & funk musician (Troglodyte (Cave Man), Jimmy Castor Bunch), born in NYC, New York (d. 2012)
• Jan 23 Gary Burton, American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator, born in Anderson, Indiana
• Jan 26 Jean Knight [Caliste], American soul, funk and R&B singer (Mr. Big Stuff), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Jan 26 Peter Kenton Winkler, American pianist, symphonic and theatrical composer, born in Los Angeles, California
• Jan 28 Dick Taylor, English rock guitarist (The Pretty Things - "S.F. Sorrow"), born in Dartford, England
• Jan 28 Brian Keenan, American rock drummer (The Chamber Brothers), born in NYC, New York (d. 1985)
• Jan 29 Tim Souster, British composer, born in Bletchley, England (d. 1994)
• Jan 30 Sandy Deane, American rocker (Jay and the Americans), born in Brooklyn, New York
• Feb 2 Peter MacBeth, rocker (Foundations)
• Feb 3 Dennis Edwards, American lead singer of The Temptations (Papa Was A Rollin' Stone), born in Fairfield, Alabama (d. 2018)
• Feb 3 Eric Haydock, bassist (Hollies-He Aint Heavy He's My Brother)
• Feb 4 Jimmy Johnson, American session guitarist and co-founder of the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, born in Sheffield, Alabama (d. 2019)
• Feb 4 Barry Beckett, American keyboardist and record producer (David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, Roger Hawkins), born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 2009)
• Feb 5 Ivan Alexandrovich Tcherepnin, French-American composer of Russian and Chinese parentage (Le va et le vient), born in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France (d. 2003)
• Feb 5 Larry Tamblyn, American rock guitarist (Standells-Dirty Water), born in Los Angeles, California
• Feb 6 Fabian [Fabiano Anthony Forte], American vocalist (Turn Me Loose, Tiger), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Feb 7 Walter Scott, American singer (Bob Kuban) whose murder was featured on "Forensic Files", born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1983)
• Feb 8 Creed Bratton [William Schneider], American rock guitarist (Grass Roots - "Sooner or Later"), and actor (The Office -"Creed Bratton"), born in Los Angeles, California
• Feb 8 Jose de Almeida Prado, composer
• Feb 9 Barbara Lewis, American singer (Hello Stranger), born in Salem, Michigan
• Feb 9 Ryland Davies, Welsh tenor, born in Cwm, Gwent
• Feb 10 Ralph "Ral" Donner, American rock and roll singer ("You Don't Know What You've Got (Until You Lose It)", born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1984)
• Feb 11 Serge Lama [Chauvier], French singer ("Je suis malade"), born in Bordeaux, France
• Feb 13 Bill Szymczyk, American sound engineer, and record producer (Eagles; Joe Walsh), born in Muskegon, Michigan
• Feb 14 Eric Anderson, American vocalist (Avalanche, Be True to You), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Feb 14 Maceo Parker, American tenor saxophonist (James Brown; Parliament-Funkadelic, King's One, Mo' Roots), born in Kinston, North Carolina
• Feb 16 Anthony Dowell, ballet dancer (Royal Ballet), born in London, England
• Feb 19 Lou Christie [Lugee Sacco], American singer-songwriter ("Lightnin' Strikes"), born in Glenwillard, Pennsylvania
• Feb 21 David Geffen, American record producer (Geffen Records, Asylum) and film studio executive (DreamWorks SKG), born in Brooklyn, New York
• Feb 21 Duncan Swift, British jazz stride pianist, born in Rotherham, Yorkshire, England (d. 1997)
• Feb 24 Pablo Milanés, Cuban musician

• Feb 25 Maryann Amacher, composer
• Feb 26 Bob "Bear" Hite, American vocalist (Canned Heat-Going Up the Country), born in Torrance, California (d. 1981)
• Feb 26 Paul Cotton, American rocker (Poco), born in Los Angeles, California
• Feb 27 Morten Lauridsen, American composer, born in Colfax, Washington
• Feb 28 Barbara Acklin, American soul singer ("Love Makes A Woman"), and songwriter ("Have You Seen Her"), born in Oakland, California (d. 1998)
• Feb 28 Donnie Iris [Dominic Ierace], American rock musician (The Cruisers), born in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania
• Feb 28 Charles Bernstein, American American composer of film and television scores, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Mar 1 Piet Veerman, Dutch rock vocalist/guitarist (Cats-Sailin' Home)
• Mar 2 Tony Meehan [Daniel Meehan], English rocker (Drifters, Vipers), born in London, England
• Mar 2 Stephen Dickman, composer
• Mar 4 Zoltán Jeney, Hungarian composer and educator (Franz Liszt Academy, 1995-2019), born in Szolnok, Hungary (d. 2019)
• Mar 5 Lucio Battisti, Italian pop singer and composer, born in Poggio Bustone, Italy (d. 1998)
• Mar 7 Chris White, American rock singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer (The Zombies-Never Even Thought), born in NYC, New York (d. 2015)
• Mar 7 Leon Sylvers III, American rocker and producer (The Sylers), born in Memphis, Tennessee
• Mar 10 Alfred Whitford 'Fred' Lerdahl, American composer (Arches), born in Madison, Wisconsin
• Mar 10 Stephen Montague, composer
• Mar 14 Jim Pons, bassist (Turtles, Mothers of Invention), born in Santa Monica, California
• Mar 15 Sly Stone, Dallas, funk musician (Sly & the Family Stone-Everyday People), born in Denton, Texas
• Mar 17 Tony Newman, English drummer (Sounds Incorporated, T.Rex), born in Southampton, England
• Mar 17 Jim Weatherly, American pop and country songwriter ("Midnight Train To Georgia"), born in Pontotoc, Mississippi (d. 2021)
• Mar 21 Vivian Stanshall, songwriter/comic
• Mar 21 Hartmut Haenchen, German conductor
• Mar 22 George Benson, American jazz/blues singer/guitarist (Greatest Love of All), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Mar 22 Joseph Schwantner, American composer (Aftertones of Infinity), born in Chicago, Illinois
• Mar 22 Keith Relf, British musician and vocalist (the Yardbirds-For Your Love, Renaissance), born in Richmond, England (d. 1976)
• Mar 23 Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Finnish Sami writer (The Sun, My Father) and musician, born in Enontekiö, Finland (d. 2001)
• Mar 25 Ronald Jeffers, composer
• Mar 28 Richard Eyre, English film, theatre, television and opera director (National Theatre), born in Barnstaple, Devon, England
• Mar 29 Vangelis [Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou], Greek composer and keyboardist (Chariots of Fire), born in Agria, Greece
• Mar 29 Chad Allan [Allan Kowbel], Canadian musician (The Guess Who), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Mar 30 Jay Traynor, American singer (Jay and the Americans), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2014)
• Mar 30 Ken Forssi, American musician (Love) (d. 1998)
• Apr 2 Glen Dale [Richard Garforth], rock vocalist (Fortunes Deal)
• Apr 2 Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (11th House), born in Galveston, Texas (d. 2017)
• Apr 3 Richard Manuel, Canadian rock pianist and vocalist (The Band), born in Stratford, Ontario (d. 1986)
• Apr 3 Mario Lavista, Mexican composer and writer, born in Mexico City
• Apr 7 Mick Abrahams, Luton, rock guitarist (Jethro Tull, Blodwyn Pig)
• Apr 7 Roberta Shore, Monterrey Park, California, actress/singer (Virginian)
• Apr 9 Terry Knight, American rock producer and singer (Grand Funk Railroad), born in Lapeer, Michigan (d. 2004)
• Apr 13 Eve Graham, Scottish singer (The New Seekers), born in Auchterarder, Scotland
• Apr 15 Riem de Wolff, Indonesian-Dutch singer and guitarist (Blue Diamonds), born in Depok, Buitenzorg, Dutch East Indies (d. 2017)
• Apr 15 Mighty Sam McClain, American soul and blues singer-songwriter, born in Monroe, Louisiana (d. 2015)
• Apr 16 "Lonesome Dave" Peverett, British rock singer and musician (Foghat, Savoy Brown), born in London, England (d. 2000)

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• Jan 14 Adolf Sandberger, German composer and musicologist, dies at 78
• Jan 20 Giacomo Benvenuti, composer, dies at 57
• Jan 21 Otakar Sini, composer, dies at 61
• Feb 14 Dora Gerson, German-Jewish actress, cabaret singer, and Holocaust victim (Caravan of Death), dies in Auschwitz concentration camp at 43
• Feb 15 William Victor Harris, American composer, dies at 73
• Feb 17 Armand J. Piron, American jazz violinist and composer, dies at 54
• Mar 19 Vicente Ripollés, Spanish composer, dies at 75
• Mar 23 Joseph Moiseyevich Schillinger, composer, dies at 47
• Mar 28 Sergei Vasilievitch Rachmaninov, Russian composer and pianist, dies at 69
• Apr 4 Raoul Laparra, composer, dies at 66
• Apr 4 Hartzell "Tiny" Parham, American jazz pianist, theater organist, and bandleader, dies at 43
• Apr 14 Geoffrey Turton Shaw, composer, dies at 63
• Apr 15 Raffaele Casimiri, Italian musicologist & composer, dies at 62
• Apr 19 Gustave Doret, Swiss composer, dies at 76
• Apr 29 Joseph Achron, Latvian violinist/composer (Golem suite), dies at 56
• Apr 29 Karl Adrian Wohlfart, Swedish composer, dies at 68
• Apr 30 Leo Smit, Dutch composer, dies in Sobibór extermination camp at 42
• May 3 Leslie Heward, English composer, dies at 45
• May 12 Albert Stoessel, American composer, dies at 48
• May 29 Hermann Hans Wetzler, German-American composer, dies at 72
• Jun 8 (Wilford) "Min" Leibrook was an American jazz tuba player and bassist (Paul Whiteman Orchestra), dies of meningitis at 40
• Jul 10 Arthur Nevin, American composer, dies at 72
• Jul 30 Benjamin James Dale, composer, dies at 58
• Aug 3 Edward "Corky" Cornelius, American jazz trumpeter (Benny Goodman; Gene Krupa), dies of kidney failure at 28
• Aug 12 Georges Martin Witkowski, composer, dies at 76
• Aug 23 Johann Zilcher, German composer, dies at 88
• Sep 27 Waclaw Gieburowski, Polish composer, dies at 65
• Oct 2 Robert Nathaniel Dett, Canadian pianist and composer (In The Bottoms), dies of a heart attack at 60
• Oct 5 Leon Roppolo, American musician (b. 1902)
• Oct 18 Benedictus H Dancer, botanist, dies at 52
• Oct 22 Josef Venantius von Woss, Austrian composer, dies at 80
• Oct 27 Bela Reinitz, composer, dies at 64
• Nov 17 Paul Charles Rene Landormy, composer, dies at 74
• Nov 22 Lorenz Hart, American lyricist (I Could Write A Book, My Funny Valentine) and half of the Broadway musical team Rodgers and Hart, dies of pneumonia from exposure after drinking heavily in NYC at 48
• Nov 22 Pietro Alessandro Yon, Italian organist and composer, dies at 57
• Dec 6 Hermann Löhr, British composer, dies at 72

• Dec 25 Ilona Durigo, Hungarian singer, dies at 62
• Dec 25 Raymond Huntington Woodman, composer, dies at 82