Lorene S. Banta (Mrs. Cornelius Gordon S. Banta) died on November 22, 2001 in Winter Park, Florida. Born on May 18, 1914, Dr. Banta and her husband moved to Winter Park in 1978 from Massachusetts when they retired from teaching at Phillips Academy in Andover. In addition to degrees in music, Banta received the PhD in classical literature from the University of Michigan, and held several church positions in the Boston area as well as in Orlando. Dr. Banta was associate professor at Queen’s College, North Carolina, until she left to be married in 1948 in Washington Cathedral. She and her husband then moved to Phillips Andover where they taught for 30 years. A member of the AGO, Dr. Banta served for many years on the staff of The American Organist magazine. A memorial service was held on December 13 at the First Congregational Church of Winter Park.
Paul Hume, longtime music critic for the Washington Post, died on November 26 in a Baltimore nursing home at the age of 85. Hume will always be remembered as drawing the famous rebuke from President Harry S. Truman when he panned a voice recital given by Truman’s daughter Margaret on December 5, 1950. Paul Chandler Hume was born in Chicago. He studied piano for seven years, organ for four years, and voice for seven years, and graduated from The University of Chicago with a major in English. In 1946 he joined the staff of radio station WINX and in 1947 became the Post’s music critic. He retired in 1982. In addition to his career at the Post, Hume taught music history at Georgetown University from 1950 to 1977 and was visiting professor at Yale University from 1975 to 1983. His books include a 1977 biography of Verdi and a 1956 study of Catholic church music. In the early 1950s Hume was the baritone soloist at Washington National Cathedral, where he also gave organ recitals. For 25 years he was director of the Georgetown University Glee Club.
Heinz Lohmann died on March 11, 2001 in Berlin, Germany, at the age of 66. Organist at Berlin’s Heilsbronnen Church from 1971 until several years ago, when Parkinson’s disease prevented him from playing, he was also a composer, teacher, and author of articles and books. Lohmann made 38 recordings, notably of music by Max Reger. His editions of the organ works of Bach, Walther and Zachow are published by Breitkopf & Härtel.
