“Sherwood Mobley, the executive director and longtime former timpanist with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, died early Friday morning,” writes Paul Hyde in Friday’s (2/26) Greenville News (S.C.). “Mobley, 59, had been battling an acute infection and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, a blood cancer. ‘This is a great loss for our orchestra, our community, and for myself personally,’ said Edvard Tchivzhel, conductor and music director of the Greenville Symphony…. Mobley’s appointment in 2014 as executive director of the orchestra gained considerable notice nationwide because he was one of the few African Americans serving in the top administrative position in an American symphony orchestra…. Mobley’s association with the orchestra extends back to 1991, when he became principal timpanist with the ensemble. In 1996, he was appointed director of operations and personnel…. [As executive director] Mobley pursued new educational initiatives and … sought to provide opportunities for minority musicians.” Mobley attended Boston Conservatory, the New England Conservatory, and before coming to Greenville “served as principal timpanist with the Maracaibo (Venezuela) and Macon (Georgia) symphony orchestras.” He taught at South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities and performed with the Greenville Symphony jazz trio. In addition to his wife, Debbie Paden Mobley, he is survived by two daughters.
Posted February 26, 2016
