St. Louis Symphony Dedicates Mahler 2 Concerts April 8-10 to the Memory of Chorus Manager Richard Ashburner

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The St. Louis Symphony is dedicating its performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” April 8-10, 2011, to the late Richard Ashburner, who passed away Friday, March 18. Ashburner had been the manager of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus since 1989, having joined it as a tenor eight years earlier.

Symphony President and CEO Fred Bronstein said of Ashburner: “Richard was a longtime, remarkably devoted member of the St. Louis Symphony staff, and a very important part of the success of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus over many years. He was a dedicated educator, passionate music lover and a warm, gentle person. Richard's impact and absence will be felt for a long time to come. We mourn his passing.”

Ashburner was also an administrator with the Special School District and received national recognition for his work in the field of speech pathology. More recently, he worked with the Symphony's Education and Community Partnership Department to help musicians develop effective presentations in area schools.

St. Louis Symphony Chorus director Amy Kaiser will speak prior to the performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection.”

The concert on April 9 will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio (90.7 KWMU) at 8:00 p.m. CT, and will be streamed online at www.stlpublicradio.org.

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