Roger Durham Hannay (d.1/27/06)
 
CHAPEL HILL – Roger Durham Hannay, 75, died on January 27, 2006, at UNC Memorial Hospital following complications from open-heart surgery.
Born in 1930 in Plattsburgh, New York, Roger was a highly esteemed composer. He was Professor of Composition at UNC for nearly 30 years. He served as Chairman of the Division of Fine Arts, and in 1995 was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus. He was the Founder-Director of the UNC New Music Ensemble, the Composer-Concert Series, and the Electronic Music Studio. He was a highly regarded teacher who inspired generations of successful young composers.
 
He wrote over 120 works of music, including ten symphonies, five operas, and numerous chamber music works. He was the recipient of many grants and commissions, including those from the North Carolina Symphony, the National Endowment for the Arts, ASCAP, the American Music Center, the Kenan Foundation, the Pogue Foundation, and the North Carolina School of the Arts. He was a member of the Southeastern Composers League.
His works were performed to great acclaim throughout the US. Performances included concerts by the Houston Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, the Eastman-Rochester Philharmonic, the Winston-Salem Symphony, and by other ensembles at universities and music schools from New York to Oregon.
 
He was the author of My Book of Life, a collection of autobiographical essays completed in 1997.
 
An archive of his life’s work, established at the Wilson Library at UNC in Chapel Hill, includes manuscripts, letters, photographs, and other memorabilia.
 
There is a performance of his work scheduled at UNC on February 28, 2006, and there will be a performance of one of his last compositions, commissioned by the North Carolina Symphony in 2005, during the 2006-07 season.
 
He is survived by his wife Janet and his daughter Dawn, a violist in the New York Philharmonic. A private burial will take place in Kew Gardens, New York, and a memorial concert of his compositions will be announced at a future date.
 
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent in his name to the North Carolina Symphony Endowment Fund*, to be used towards commissioning new works by North Carolina composers.
 
*Contributions to the endowment fund, in Hannay’s memory, honoring NC composers, may be sent to:

NC Symphony, Suite 105, 4361 Lassiter @ North Hills Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27609 ATTN: John Mitterling.
 

A memorial concert will be offered in Hill Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill, at 2 p.m. on April 9.**
 
**Sunday April 9

Music by Roger Hannay (1930-2006), presented in memory of the composer by James Ketch & UNC trumpet students; Nickitas Demos, clarinet; UNC Wind Ensemble, Robert Simon, conductor; Alma Cabeza-Coefman, flute, Richard Luby, violin, & Brent Wissick, cello*; Marmaduke Miles, piano; Michael Kallstrom, baritone; Dawn Hannay, viola (New York Philharmonic); Roger Hannay, piano (recording); & Durham Civic Choral Society [Choral Society of Durham] with orchestra, Robert Porco, conductor (recorded 1976); & Thomas Brosh, piano

Program: Hannay: Schoharie March (composed & recorded 1947); Festival Trumpets; Pied Piper, for clarinet and tape; Symphony for Band: Adagio affetuoso; Modes of Discourse: Volatile*; Luminere; The Journey of Edith Wharton: Of all the Women…; The Fortune of St. Macabre: Take Hands; O Solo Viola; Dream Sequence, for piano and tape; Requiem: excerpt (recorded 1976); & Farewell, Be Well (for orchestra, 2005; transcr. piano & strings by Jim Mobberley); & Thomas Brosh: Peace, for Piano, for R.D.H. (2006)

Hill Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill. 2:00 p.m.

Free. 919/962-1039 or http://www.unc.edu/music/

 
***