Bill Bennett, longtime oboist with the San Francisco Symphony, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage onstage last weekend while performing Richard Strauss’s Oboe Concerto at Davies Symphony Hall here in San Francisco. He passed away yesterday, surrounded by his family.
Here’s a fine obituary written by our local classical music critic, a cool guy who also knew Bill well.
I met Bill 30 years ago. I was a classical musician recently turned rocker, teaching guitar in San Francisco and hoping for a break. I received a call one day from a young-sounding dude who’d seen one of my ads.
“Do you teach rock guitar?” he asked with a slight air of suspicion.
“Of course I teach rock,” I sniffed.
“I only want to study rock,” he said. “Not classical.” I assumed I was talking to some close-minded metal kid, and reassured him that I wouldn’t try to foist any classical stuff on him.
You know the punchline: My “close-minded” student turned out to be one of the most celebrated classical musicians of his generation.