Final Cadence
Music educator Eugene Langdoc '58 of Littleton, NH, passed away due to cardiac complications. He was 75. Langdoc was an arranging and composition major at Berklee. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Boston University and his doctorate from Rockville University in Maryland. He leaves his wife, Maryann, and son William.
British bassist, composer, author, and educator Graham Collier '63 died of heart failure on September 10, 2011. He was 74. Collier was Berklee's first British graduate. He established the jazz degree course at London's Royal Academy of Music. During the mid-1980s, his Loose Tubes big band helped spark a renaissance of British jazz. Collier wrote seven books on jazz and released 19 albums and CDs. His most recent U.S. album release was Hoarded Dreams.
Guitarist Charles Chapman '72 passed away on July 15 following a long battle with a brain tumor. He was 60. After graduating from Berklee, Chapman served as a faculty member for 31 years. In 2003 he retired to Boothbay Harbor, ME. Chapman was known as an old-school jazz player, and shared the stage with Martin Taylor, Kenny Burrell, Joe Negri, Jimmy Bruno, Frank Vignola, and John Pisano. He authored nine books and recorded the CDs that accompanied William Leavitt's Berklee Modern Method for Guitar series. Chapman leaves his wife of 34 years, Donna Chapman.
Guitarist Christopher Peter Rupe '98 of Martha's Vineyard, MA, died on September 14 after a long illness. He was 39. Rupe had recorded two CDs with his brother Colin Newcomer and was planning a third when he became ill. He leaves his parents Pamela Phillips and Chris Newcomer, sister Alicia Newcomer, and brother Colin Newcomer.
Sarah Emilee Beatty '09 of Lexington, SC, died in a car accident on September 2. She was 24. She is the daughter of Lori Lynn Grigsby Holmgreen of Lexington and Charles Alan Beatty of Eden, NC. Beatty earned her degree in vocal performance and music business and management at Berklee. Beatty was employed at Vector Management in Nashville, TN, and was about to start a new job at Forest Hills Baptist Church in Nashville as an assistant music minister.
Former faculty member Kenneth Greenhouse of Atlanta, GA, passed away on July 16 after a long struggle with ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Greenhouse earned his bachelor's degree in music education and master's degree in choral conducting from Indiana University. In 1982, he joined the Berklee faculty and served as chair of the Voice Department for 14 of his 17 years at Berklee. After moving to Atlanta in 1999, Greenhouse became the music specialist at the Katherine and Jacob Greenfield Hebrew Academy and the accompanist at Temple Sinai before becoming ill. He leaves his wife, Susan Cohen Greenhouse; son, Max; and daughter, Rebecca.
We have recently learned that Dan Briesemeister '88 died in 2004. He was a bassist and a respected faculty member at Musician's Institute in Minneapolis, MN, before his passing.
