Carlo Curley died at his home in Melton Mowbray, England, on August 11. He was 59. Born into a musical family in North Carolina in 1952, he attended the North Carolina School of the Arts. His organ studies were with Arthur Poister, Robert Elmore, Virgil Fox, and George Thalben-Ball.
Early in his career, he was invited by the President to play at the White House, and made history as the first classical organist to give a solo organ recital there. Carlo Curley played before crowned heads of Europe, including the late Princess Grace of Monaco, the Princess Royal of England, and several Command Performances for the Danish Royal Family; he made private recordings for the Sultan of Oman. Curley played in every state and province in North America and Canada, as well as Europe, Asia, Australia, and Hong Kong; he recently toured Japan with the King’s Singers.
Carlo Curley also appeared on TV and radio. His network TV appearances in the United States, England, Australia, and Japan are well known. In England, he made innumerable appearances for the BBC, including organ spectaculars from the cathedrals at Ely, Lichfield, Norwich, Guildford, and Gloucester. Recently the U.K.’s Classic FM broadcast live his concert at Westminster Abbey, given in aid of the Abbey Choir School and the Royal School of Church Music. Carlo Curley’s recordings included CDs and the first-ever commercial video of a classical organ performance, Organ Imperial. His recordings have been voted “Best of the Month” by Stereo Review in the USA, “Record of the Year” in Scandinavia, and “Laser Disc of Exceptional Merit” by FM Fan in Japan, where his CDs enjoy particularly brisk sales.
Margaret Garrett Hayward of Centerport, New York, died February 1. She was 94 years old. A 1938 graduate of Skidmore College, she studied organ with a number of teachers, including Stanley Saxton, Palmer Christian, Paul Callaway, and Thomas Richner. She played at churches on Long Island for nearly 55 years, including 17 years at Locust Valley Dutch Reformed Church; she also served at Bayshore Methodist, Old First Presbyterian of Huntington, St. Paul’s Methodist, Trinity Episcopal, Huntington Episcopal, and others. Margaret Hayward retired in 1998 but continued to play as a substitute.
Daniel T. Moe died May 24 at age 85 in Sarasota, Florida. Born in Fargo, North Dakota, Moe served in the Naval Air Corps (1944–46) as a clarinetist and saxophonist. He later graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and earned master’s (University of Washington) and doctoral (University of Iowa) degrees. Moe was a faculty member at the Oberlin Conservatory from 1972–92, where he directed the choral ensembles. He retired to Sarasota, Florida; at the time of his death he was conductor emeritus of the Key Chorale, and composer in residence at the Church of the Redeemer. His composition Cantata for Peace was performed in 1993 during the visit of Pope John Paul II. Daniel T. Moe is survived by his wife, five sons, seven grandchildren, two brothers, and a sister.
The Rev. Carl E. Schroeder died June 12 in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. He was 78. Schroeder earned three diplomas from the Peabody Conservatory; he served two large Lutheran churches in Baltimore, then came to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1964, where he served as organist and choirmaster of Trinity Lutheran Church, the former Zion Lutheran Church, the former St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, and All Saints Anglican Church. He also taught organ, piano, and theory at Elizabethtown College, founded and directed the Music Sacra choral society, and served five terms as dean of the Lancaster AGO chapter. Other activities included private teaching, writing book and music reviews, music composition, and playing recitals. Schroeder studied at Scott Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, and was ordained a priest, after which he became the rector at All Saints Anglican Church in Lancaster. He retired from All Saints in 2010. Rev. Carl E. Schroeder is survived by his wife, Jane Elizabeth (Hymes), a daughter, a son, four grandchildren, two sisters, and two brothers.
Florence Emily Westrum died August 6 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She was Organist Emerita at First Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor. Born in Beardsley, Minnesota, February 15, 1921, she earned a bachelor’s degree in music education at Hamline University and taught school for a year before moving to Berkeley, California, to work at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, where her future husband, Edgar F. Westrum, Jr., was working on the Manhattan Project. After their marriage, the couple moved to Chicago and then to Ann Arbor, where Edgar became professor of chemistry at the University of Michigan. Florence was a founding member of the First Presbyterian Church, where she served initially as music director and organist, and then as organist. She was active in the American Guild of Organists and in the Faculty Women’s Club, and volunteered at the University Hospital and Ronald McDonald House. Florence Emily Westrum is survived by her husband of 69 years, Edgar F. Westrum, Jr., four children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
