farewell, george winters

I was stricken to hear that George Archer Winters died in his sleep last night.

He was a mentor, friend, and amazingly good conductor. Rock-solid — never saw him make a false choice musically. Many many hours we spent together listening to music, talking about his pipe collection, discussing travel and women and art and spirituality.

In recent years, every year or so, right around his birthday, we'd get in touch and get lunch and catch up.

George, thanks for knowing what your students needed, for committing to great music, for knowing the good life and pursuing it. Farewell.