William Bennett (May 31, 1956 – February 28, 2013) was an American musician. He was the principal oboist for the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Fr ...

Orchestra.

Life

Bennett was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, where his father William R. Bennett Jr. was a university professor. He joined the San Francisco Symphony in 1979, and was promoted to principal oboist in 1987, after Marc Lifschey's retirement.

John Harbison John Harris Harbison (born December 20, 1938) is an American composer, known for his symphonies, operas, and large choral works. Life John Harris Harbison was born on December 20, 1938, in Orange, New Jersey, to the historian Elmore Harris Harb ...

's oboe concerto was written for him. Bennett died in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

on February 28, 2013, a few days after collapsing on stage during a performance of the

Oboe Concerto A number of concertos (as well as non-concerto works) have been written for the oboe, both as a solo instrument as well as in conjunction with other solo instrument(s), and accompanied by string orchestra, chamber orchestra, full orchestra, concert ...

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

. He was 56 and is survived by his wife and two children.Joshua Kosman, ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (February 28, 2013)
/ref>

References

1956 births 2013 deaths Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut American classical oboists Male oboists 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American male musicians {{US-musician-stub