Lee Hoiby, a reclusive Catskills-loving composer who adapted one of Tennessee Williams' plays into an opera, died yesterday, according to the Times Herald-Record:
Lee Hoiby, a Sullivan County-based composer whose operas were performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Narrowsburg's Tusten Theatre, died Monday. He was 85. The cause of death was cancer.
In the world of classical music, Hoiby was known as the composer of such lyrical works as "A Month in the Country," his adaptation of Tennessee Williams' "Summer and Smoke," and "The Serpent," made famous by the great Leontyne Price.
But in Sullivan, where he lived next to a waterfall and pond in Long Eddy with his partner, Mark Shulgasser, Hoiby was also known as a "gracious, lovely man" who lent his talent to local classical events like the Weekend of Chamber Music and the Delaware Valley Opera.
Hoiby had a particular love for his home in Sullivan County, which we wrote about in December.
In honor of Hoiby, here's a video of the Voice Department of the University of California at Santa Barbara performing Summer and Smoke, his adaptation of Williams' 1948 play of the same name.
