JAVS Fall 2000

VoL J6 No. 3

56

j OURNAL OF THE A \ IERICAN VIOL\ SOCIETY

I will never forget Milt and his love of the viola. He taught his last student on Wednesday, went to hospice on Thursday and passed away 2 days later- this is the way he wanted it. He had a job to do and he touched many lives doing it weU. 8

wore his CSO jacket and waved a flag while riding in a convertible, preceded by 17 young violists telling the world "You don't have to be in a band to be in a parade." The judges were so moved they awarded us the top plaque for parade entry of 82 enuies. He thanked me for promoting the viola to young children.

Mary Kay Hoffman (viola in hand) and Milton Prnm, Gknvinu, !Uinois, 4 july 1998.

In Memoriam: Francis Bundra

Francis Bundra, former violist of the Easunan Quartet and professor of viola for many years at the University of Michigan, died at his home in Interlochen, Michigan, on July 13, 2000, at the age of 72. As long time faculty member at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, he worked with hundreds of young viola srudems who, regardless of the professions they evenruaUy chose to pursue, recaU vividly the effect his performances and teaching had on their lives during those sum mers and beyond. Mr. Bundra received the degree Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester in 1957. In the faU of 1958 he was named a member of the Eastman Suing Quartet, then in its fifth year. At the time of his appointment, he was teach ing in the Rochester public schools. By that time, he had been a member of the Rochester

Philharmooia Orchestra for five seasons. He continued as a member of the RPO while per forrning as a member of the Eastman Suing Quartet, whose other members included first violinist Joseph Knitzer, second violinist John Celentano, and cellist Georges MiqueUe. In the faU of 1963, Mr. Bundra left to assume a faculty posicion at the Interlochen Arts Academy, and Francis Tursi, whom Mr. Bundra had replaced in 1958, rerurned to the quartet as violist. After joining the University of Michigan faculty in 1965, he continued to teach at the National Music Camp and the University of Michigan's summer division at Interlochen until his retirement in 1981. As University of Michigan professor, Mr. Bundra devoted his considerable energies ro teaching, with equal intensity and demanding standards, both viola performance and educa tion majors alike. In pursuit of fixing a prob-