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UCLA Obituary: Donn Weiss

Carolyn Campbell (ccampbel@arts.ucla.edu) (310) 825-6540
For Immediate Use Wednesday, August 19, 1998.

Donn Weiss, Director of Choral Music Emeritus in the UCLA Department of Music, died August 17 at St. John's Medical Center in Santa Monica, California. He was 70. He is survived by his son, Craig Stanke.

"The Department of Music deeply regrets the passing of Donn Weiss," said Jon Robertson, department chair. "During his tenure, [he] was responsible for developing a diverse choral activity program...His loss will be greatly felt throughout the choral community of Los Angeles."

For more than 35 years — from 1959 until his retirement in the mid-1990s — the name of Donn Weiss was synonymous with choral music at UCLA. As Director of Choral Activities, he conducted the Concert Choir, Madrigal Singers, Men's Glee Club, and the 250-voice UCLA Chorale. During his career at UCLA, he brought wide acclaim to his performing groups through local concerts, national and international tours, and recordings.

Weiss built an impressive choral department at UCLA offering courses in choral repertoire, conducting techniques, and a graduate program in choral conducting. The choral music program became an integral part of the department, performing music from all eras of music history, providing training for future music teachers, and performing compositions by UCLA students and faculty.

Under his direction, UCLA choral groups toured throughout the continental United States, Hawaii, and the world, including Australia and Japan. His groups performed in such prestigious venues as Alice Tully and Avery Fischer Halls at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York; Orchestra Hall, Chicago; and the Music Center, Los Angeles. The groups recorded on the Capitol, Columbia, Cathedral, and Everest labels.

In 1970, the Men's Glee Club was invited to perform in the White House for then President Richard Nixon and West German Chancellor Willy Brandt. In 1990, Weiss was invited to spend two weeks in the Soviet Union as a guest of the Leningrad Conservatory, where he lectured on American choral music and conducted the conservatory chorus in the Great Hall of the Philharmonic. This marked the first time that the chorus had sung in the Great Hall under an American conductor.

He was for many years and until shortly before his passing the music director for the Westwood Presbyterian Church. Prior to coming to UCLA, he was head of choral music at Washington University, St. Louis. During his tenure there, he was associate choral director for the St. Louis Symphony and was also associated with the Municipal Opera.

Weiss received his B.M.E. from Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, and his M.M. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

A memorial service is scheduled for Sunday, August 23 at 4 pm at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Westwood Presbyterian Church's music fund at 10822 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90024.


Contact: Carolyn Campbell
Phone: (310) 825-6540
Email: ccampbel@arts.ucla.edu