Category Archives: In Memoriam/Final Notes

Final Note: Joseph Diorio

Life Member. Guitar
8/6/1936 – 2/2/2022

by Dr. Len Bergantino, retired Local 47 member and retired clinical psychiatrist

Joe Diorio died on February 2, 2022 at the age of 85. Joe was known as the jazz guitar players’ jazz guitar player! He was the one jazz guitar players thought was the best. He suffered from a stroke in 2005. When I asked him if he would miss being top man and not playing jazz, he said, “I’m just glad to be alive!” He once gave me a painting he did which said, “All the animals in the jungle except man known that the principle business of life is to enjoy it!”

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Final Note: Roger Larocque

Life Member. Drum Set
2/8/1953 – 10/31/2021                                                                                                                                       
by Peter Andrews

Roger Larocque, drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, engineer and producer extraordinaire, passed away on October 31, 2021 of complications resulting from a long battle with diabetes. Continue reading →

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Final Note: Frank Jerome Messina

Life Member. Composer
3/14/1943 – 10/20/2021

by the Messina family

Frank Jerome Messina passed away in McMinnville, Oregon on October 20, 2021, of heart disease. He was 78. 

Frank had a lifelong passion for music, especially the trumpet. He started as a studio musician for MGM in the ’60s. In college, he went on to tour with both the Beach Boys and Paul Revere and the Raiders, playing trumpet, flugelhorn and providing backup vocals.  Continue reading →

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Final Note: Daniel Shindarov

Former Life Member. Violin
12/8/1924 – 10/21/2021

Local 47 Life Member, Russian born and internationally renowned violinist, Daniel Shindarov, passed away on October 21, 2021, in Hollywood at the age of 97.

Former concertmaster in the USSR of Moscow’s Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Orchestras, Daniel began his musical training with Pyotr Stolyarsky, who had also been the teacher of Misha Elman, Nathan Milstein and David Oistrakh, with whom Daniel later studied at the Moscow Conservatory.

After emigrating to the US in 1975, Daniel Shindarov served as concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, as well as long-time member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Master Symphony, the Seattle Symphony as well as numerous other ensembles.  As a prominent studio musician in Los Angeles, Daniel also performed in many Film Scores and recording sessions.

A public memorial service will be held at 12 noon on November 7, 2021 at Mount Sinai Memorial Park, 5950 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068 (Forest Lawn Drive Exit on the 134 Freeway).

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Final Note: Ralph Carmichael

Former Life Member. Composer/Orchestrator
5/27/1927 – 10/18/2021

Ralph Carmichael, prolific composer, Emmy Award winning arranger/conductor for Nat King Cole, Jack Jones, Ella Fitzgerald and Roger Williams, composer of “The Blob” movie score and considered to be the Father of Contemporary Christian Music, died October 18, 2021, in Camarillo, Calif. He was 94.   Continue reading →

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Final Note: James Stark

Member. Violin
7/18/1948 – 9/29/2020

James Stark: A Lifetime of Music and Performance

by Cheri Jamison and La Mirada Symphony

As a student of Albert Gillis, James Stark began his violin studies at the age of seven in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1980, he was appointed concertmaster for the Heidelberg Chamber Orchestra and toured extensively in Europe and the United States performing in the major capital cities as a soloist in over 150 concerts. Continue reading →

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