
June 21: Today’s Birthdays
1577 Giovanni Del Turco, Italian composer, born in Florence, Italy (d. 20 Sept. 1647)
1668 Cajetan Kolberer, composer, born in Salzburg, Austria (d. 23 Apr. 1732)
1732 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German harpsichordist and composer, 5th son of Johann Sebastian Bach, born in Leipzig, Germany (d. 26 Jan. 1795)
1790 Wilhelm Speyer, German violinist and composer, born in Offenbach, Hesse, Germany (d. 5 Apr. 1878)
1805 Karl Friedrich Curschmann, German composer, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 24 Aug. 1841)
1818 Ernst II, duke of Saxon-Coburg-Gotha (1844-93) and composer, born in Ehrenburg Palace, Coburg, Germany (d. 22 Aug. 1893)
1862 Henry Holden Huss, American composer, born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 17 Sept. 1953)
1865 Herbert Brewer, English composer, born in Gloucester, England (d. 1 March, 1928)
1891 Hermann Scherchen, German conductor (Nature of Music), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 12 Jun. 1966)
1893 Alois Hába, Czech composer of “Overture for orchestra” and other opera pieces, born in Vizovice, Zlín Region, Czech Republic (d. 18 Nov. 1973)
1899 Pavel Haas, Czech Jewish composer killed in Auschwitz concentration camp, born in Brno, Czech Republic (d. 17 Oct. 1944)
1900 Gunnar Ek, Swedish composer and musician, born in Asarum Blekinge (d. 21 Jun. 1981)
1902 Wilhelm Maler, German composer, born in Heidelberg, Germany (d. 29 Apr. 1976)
1903 Louis Krasner, Ukrainian-American classical violinist, famous for commissioning Alban Berg’s cviolin cobcerto, born in Cherkasy, Ukraine (d. 4 May. 1995)
1906 Helene Costello, American dancer and actress, born in New York City, New York (d. 26 Jan. 1957 in California)
1906 Lluís Maria Millet, Catalan composer, born in Barcelona, Spain (d. 19 Jul. 1990)
1906 Harold Spina, American composer, born in NYC, New York (d. 18 Jul. 1997)
1909 Kurt Schwaen, German composer, born in Katowice, Poland (d. 2007)
1910 Bela Tardos, Hungarian composer, born in Budapest (d. 1966)
1910 Charles Jones, composer, born in Tamworth, Ontario, Canada (d. 1997)
1914 Jan Decadt, Flemish composer, born in Ypres, Belgium (d. 5 Jun. 1995)
1921 Frank Scott, American pianist of the Lawrence Welk Show, born in Fargo, North Dakota (d. 5 Oct. 1995)
1924 Wally Fawkes, British-Canadian satirical cartoonist and jazz clarinetist, born in Vancouver, British Columbia
1928 Judith Raskin, American soprano, born in NYC, New York (d. 21 Dec. 1984)
1929 Alexandre Lagoya, French classical guitarist and composer, born in Alexandria, Egypt (d. 24 Aug. 1999)
1932 Lalo [Boris] Schifrin, Argentine-American pianist and composer, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
1932 O. C Smith, American jazz singer (Little Green Apples), born in Mansfield, Louisiana (d. 2001)
1944 Jon Hiseman, English drummer (Colosseum), born in London, United Kingdom (d. 12 Jun. 2018)
1944 Ray Davies, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Kinks), born in London
1946 Brenda Holloway, American singer and songwriter (When I’m Gone), born in Atascadero, California
1947 Joseph “Joey” Molland, British rock guitarist, born in Liverpool, England
1970 Pete Rock, American rapper/producer, born in The Bronx, New York
1971 Anette Ingegerd Olzon, Swedish singer of “Storytime” and other songs
1974 Neely Jenkins, American musician, born in Omaha, Nebraska
1982 Jussie Smollett, American actor and singer, born in Santa Rosa, California
1985 Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, known by the adopted stage name Lana Del Rey, American singer and songwriter was born in Manhattan New York.
Lana Del Rey Songs
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June 21: On This Day in Music History – Deaths
1900 Polibo Fumagalli, Italian composer, dies in Milan at 69
1908 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer, dies in Lyubensk, Russia, at 64
1914 Glauco Velasquez, composer, dies of Tuberculosis at 30
1975 Heinz Lau, German composer, dies in Berlin at 49
1992 Thomas Whitfield, American gospel vocalist, dies of cardiac arrest at 38
1993 Ticho Parly, Danish classical tenor, dies in Seattle, Washington, at 64
1997 (14 June) Arthur Prysock, American jazz and R&B singer, dies in Hamilton, Bermuda at 73
1997 Shintaro Katsu, Japanese actor, singer, producer, and director, dies of cancer at 65
2000 Alan Hovhaness, Armenian-American composer, dies in Seattle, Washington, at 89
2001 John Lee Hooker, American blues guitarist, dies in Los Altos, California, at 83
2015 Gunther Schuller, American hornist and jazz composer and winner of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize, dies at 89.
June 21: On This Day in Music History – Events
1868 Wagner’s opera “Meistersinger von Nuernberg” premieres in Munich, Bavaria, the most populous German state.
1969 Zager & Evans release the studio album “In the Year 2525.”
1971 50,000 attend Celebration of Life, rock concert, McCrea, Louisiana, United States.
1998 “Don’t Be Cruel” 2nd studio album by Bobby Brown is released. It won a Grammy Award Best Male R&B Vocal Performance two years after, in 1990.