R.I.P.: Donald Erb

Donald Erb
(born Jan. 17, 1927, Youngstown/OH;
died Aug. 12, 2008, Cleveland Heights/OH)

The composer Donald Erb died August 12th after a long illness in his home in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Erb had played trumpet in high school and after World War II worked as a professional jazz musician. On the side he studied composition, among others with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He later wrote one of the first chamber compositions for synthesizer and acoustic instruments which was premiered in 1967 with Robert Moog himself playing the synthesizer. Obituary: New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle.