Gordon Wright, 72, Conducted Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra
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Gordon Wright, conductor of the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, was found dead Wednesday at his cabin in Alaska. He was 72.
The cause of death was not immediately known, but foul play was not suspected, police said.
He was supposed to have met composer John Luther Adams of Fairbanks at the Anchorage airport on Wednesday. When Wright didn’t show, Adams called friends to check on Wright.
Friends found Wright’s body on the front porch of his remote cabin in Rainbow, south of Anchorage.
Wright was dressed warmly for the outdoors, and his laptop computer indicated that he had sent his last e-mails on Sunday morning, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Alaska State Trooper Ken Lewis, Adams and Wright’s friends placed the body in a pine casket that Wright had bought years ago and used as furniture in his home.
Wright was born on December 31, 1934 in Brooklyn. He moved to Fairbanks in 1969, and was conductor until his retirement in 1989. During his tenure, he championed the work of Alaska composers.
Later, he retired to his property in Rainbow. He occasionally worked as a guest conductor outside Alaska and sometimes led the Anchorage Civic Orchestra, most recently in April 2005.
