“Food? FTers? Planning on it.” is what FlyerTalk member violist posted in the CommunityBuzz forum on Thursday, February 6, 2020 at 4:13 in the afternoon Eastern Standard Time pertaining to attending the 21st Annual Brooklyn Reality Tour on Saturday June 13, 2020 — which was ultimately canceled due to the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic — and that became the last time he posted on FlyerTalk.
In Memoriam: violist
Although I am unsure of his age at this time, violist — whose real name is Michael Loo — passed away on Saturday, February 20, 2021; and this discussion on FlyerTalk is dedicated to his memory.
I first met Michael back one evening in 2010 in New York at a party for frequent fliers which we both attended — I watched him play the violin, which was nothing short of amazing — but I sadly had not personally heard from him in recent years; nor was I as close to him as other members of FlyerTalk.
Having first joined FlyerTalk as a member on Monday, March 6, 2000, violist posted content a total of 7,203 times and participated in a variety of forums. His last activity on FlyerTalk was on Saturday, February 8, 2020 at 10:40 in the evening Eastern Standard Time.
“A graduate of Harvard College, Michael Loo has long been known as one of New England’s most musically adventurous violinists”, according to this article from the official Internet web site of Assabet Valley Mastersingers. “He is at home in a wide range of repertories but has specialized in twentieth-century styles, working behind such diverse talents as Anthony Newley, Sergio Franchi, Julie Andrews, Tommy Tune, the Del Fuegos, Johnny Mathis, Connie Francis, Bobby Vinton, and Engelbert Humperdinck, meanwhile finding the time to appear in premieres of more than one hundred fifty solo, chamber, and orchestral works.”
Michael — who had since retired — has performed with the Esterhazy Baryton Trio, the Pacific Strings, and the Arcana and d’Oro string quartets. His trio with James Mosher and Eric Mazonson has achieved considerable critical approval.
He was concertmaster of the Assabet Valley Mastersingers, the Erevan Choral Society and Orchestra, and the Hillyer Festival — as well as the violist at North Shore Music Theatre.
Summary
The loss of a FlyerTalk member is always sad for me. I really dislike having to mourn yet another fellow frequent flier — especially one who I have met and with whom I have communicated.
Any other information pertaining to violist — such as funeral services — had been unavailable to me at the time this article was written. I intend to edit and amend this article if any new information becomes available so that he may be properly remembered with a more fitting tribute.
In the meantime, my thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and colleagues of violist — and I will let the praises and remembrances of FlyerTalk members who were close to him grace his memory, as any words from me could not even come close to doing him any semblance of justice.
May Michael rest in peace…
Photograph used with permission, courtesy of FlyerTalk member bdnyc.
