Many music lovers in the Triangle will remember David Arons, who passed away Dec. 19 at the age of 97, as a great publicist, advocate, ticket master, and overall coordinator of events offered by the William S. Newman Artists Series and Ensemble Courant. Earlier, he’d helped create the Village Orchestra of Chapel Hill; later, he was a mainstay of the Chapel Hill Chamber Music Workshop, where his legacy continues in the form of an annual faculty recital bearing his name.
He was a Renaissance man in many respects, with wide-ranging interests and skills, not the least of which encompassed his own strong musicianship.
He was a vet. His bride (who survives him) was a vet, too. (He was quoted as saying, “Blanche sent Allied planes up, I shot enemy planes down; together we won the war.”)
You may read details of his richly-varied life in the obit published here. Some of this his friends knew. One suspects that few knew all of it. It’s yet another reason why we should publish these accounts before the subjects thereof depart from the scene!
We’ll miss David. We extend our sympathies to Blanche and their children, grandchild, and extended family. Read the article. He had an amazing life. And think of him when you go to a concert. He was the kind of person who, working mostly behind the scenes, helped make sure the music was heard.
