Jonathan Abramowitz – Cello

Matthew J. Cvetic – Organ

Albert J. Defemio – Drums

Leroy Jenkins – Violin

Toni Koves-Steiner – Cymbalum

Ralph D. Lambert – Piano/Conductor

Sam Lane – Drums

James Phipps – Piano

Gene Quara – Accordion

Dewey Redman – Alto Sax

John K. Ries – Violin

Colin Romoff – Piano/Arranger

Harold Yaguda – Trumpet

Jonathan Abramowitz

Jonathan Abramowitz, 59, died on Jan. 23. He was a cellist and had joined Local 802 in 1967.

Mr. Abramowitz was a student of Luigi Silva, Bernard Greenhouse and Leonard Rose. A graduate of Juilliard, he received several degrees there, including a doctorate in musical arts. He was a recipient of the highest awards in numerous competitions and also a winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and a medalist in the Geneva International Performance Competition.

His successful career included solo performances, master classes and chamber music in the United States and Europe. In New York City, where Mr. Abramowitz worked from 1972 to 1987, he was one of the most sought after musicians in the recording and jingle fields.

In 1987, he relocated to Florida where he continued his activities in musicology and performance art until his death.

He is survived by his wife Lauree Nelson Abramowitz, a violinist and former member of Local 802.

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Matthew Cvetic

Matthew Cvetic, 74, an organist and an 802 member since 1967, died a year ago, on May 26, 2006. Allegro just learned of his death now.

Mr. Cvetic was born in Pittsburgh and took his first organ lessons at age 7 from his mother. Later, he studied organ with Flor Peeters at Duquesne University.

He was an assistant organist to Paul Koch at St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh and taught music at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind.

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Toni Koves-Steiner

Toni Koves-Steiner, 88, a member of Local 802 since 1942, died on April 2.

Ms. Koves-Steiner was a pioneering concert virtuoso of the cimbalom, a type of hammered dulcimer found traditionally in the music of Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Greece and Iran.

Ms. Koves-Steiner already had a successful career as a soloist in nightclubs when she was recruited by Leopold Stokowski in the mid-50’s to record Bartok’s “First Rhapsody” and his own arrangements of Liszt.

From there she took on the scores by Stravinsky and Kodaly that called for the cimbalom. At that time these parts were being performed on piano.

In a long concert career that followed, Ms. Koves-Steiner played and recorded with most of the major U.S. symphonies, including the New York Philharmonic.

She recorded with Stravinsky the definitive recordings of “Ragtime” and “Renard”, which have just been re-released.

She also recorded with Eugene Ormandy, Leonard Bernstein, Fritz Reiner and many others.

After Ms. Koves-Steiner became an active performer, Peter Maxwell Davies, Samuel Barber and Pierre Boulez wrote new music for the instrument. Later, she inspired and mentored percussionists who now play the instrument. She also continued to do the solo and ensemble work she loved in clubs and restaurants.

She was married to the pianist Louis Koves-Steiner, also a longtime Local 802 member, who passed away in 1975.

Ms. Koves-Steiner came from a distinguished Hungarian family and was also the granddaughter of Endrodi Sandor, the Hungarian poet and biographer.

She is survived by her daughters Louise and Judy Koves-Steiner, grandson Christopher Rogers and his wife Claudia, and great-grandchildren Camille, Isabelle and Theodore Rogers.

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Dewey Redman

Dewey Redman, 75, the jazz saxophonist, died last Sept. 2. He had been an 802 member since 1997.

Mr. Redman was well known in the field of free jazz. He played mainly tenor, but occasionally doubled on alto saxophone. He also played the Chinese double-reed suona (which he called a musette) and on rare occasions played the clarinet.

Mr. Redman was best known for his collaborations with Ornette Coleman, with whom he performed in his Fort Worth high school marching band. He later performed with Coleman from 1968 to 1972, appearing on the recording “New York is Now,” among others.

Mr. Redman also played in Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet (1971-1976), and was a member of the collective Old And New Dreams.

He also played with Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny.

Mr. Redman’s live shows were as likely to feature standards and ballads as the more atonal improvisations for which he was known.

He was the subject of an award-winning 2001 documentary film, “Dewey Time.”

In 2004, Mr. Redman played tenor saxophone as a special guest with Jazz at Lincoln Center, in a concert entitled “The Music of Ornette Coleman.”

His son Joshua, also an 802 member, is a well-known tenor saxophonist.

Mr. Redman is also survived by his wife Lidija Pedevska-Redman and other son Tarik.

Edited from Wikipedia.

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