OBITUARIES John Robin Sutherland
Richard Carlton Compton
5 March 1951 – 18 December 2020 John Robin Sutherland, the ponytailed, cultured and celebrated principal pianist for the San Francisco Symphony for more than four decades, died at his home in San Francisco, California on Dec. 18, 2020, following a brief illness. He was 69. Known for many years simply as Robin Sutherland (he legally changed his name to drop the “John”), he was born in Denver, Colorado, on March 5, 1951, and grew up in the nearby city of Greeley. Early in his life, Sutherland was identified as a gifted pianist; by the age of four after, among other things, playing a two-handed “happy birthday” song on a toy piano for a toddler friend, according to a statement from his sister, Jean Huffman. He went on as a youthful prodigy, groomed by Dr. Rita Hutcherson at the University of Northern Colorado while attending public schools in Greeley until his graduation in 1969. He then went for further musical training at the Juilliard School in New York City, though he left before graduating. Sutherland lived in the Roaring Fork Valley in the early 1970s, attending the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale; Colorado Mountain College outside of Glenwood Springs; and ultimately, in 1972, enrolling at the prestigious San Francisco Conservatory of Music. While an undergraduate student at the Conservatory, in 1973, he was called upon to fill in as a substitute
1950-2020
pianist at the San Francisco Symphony. At that performance and on a subsequent concert tour, according to a press release from the Symphony, Sutherland showed such remarkable abilities that, in 1974, Symphony Director Seiji Ozawa created a new position for him as principal keyboardist, which is the position he held for 45 years. Sutherland liked to joke that his might be the most concise resume in the world, since he has held only one job for his entire professional career. He retired from the symphony at the start of the 2018-19 season, a departure celebrated by the declaration of Nov. 12, 2018 as Robin Sutherland Day by the City of San Francisco and heralded by a Symphony statement of his having been “a mainstay of the orchestra's performances, taking prominent roles in everything from Bach to Stravinsky.” After retiring, Sutherland continued to perform in more intimate venues, including a benefit concert for The Sopris Sun in August, 2019, at the Redstone Castle, until being diagnosed with a brain tumor in the summer of 2020. Following several months of ultimately unsuccessful treatments, under the care of a small team of family and friends, he succumbed to complications from the tumor. He is survived by his spouse, Carlos “Lonchi” Ortega, who was born in Colombia; his sister, Jean and her husband, Steve Bojanowski of Greeley; numerous nephews,
The late Robin Sutherland addresses an intimate audience for an August 2019 concert at the Redstone Castle. Photo by Klaus Klocher nieces and other relatives, including members of the Ortega family in Colombia; and a broad collection of friends and fans around the U.S. and the wider world. Those wishing to learn more
COVID-19 TESTING Aspen Valley Hospital is partnering with Pitkin County Public Health to provide COVID-19 testing for our community.
about the life and career of Robin Sutherland can check the websites of the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Greeley Tribune and The Sopris Sun for articles and obituaries.
Richard Carlton Compton of South Hadley, MA died peacefully at home on Dec. 20, 2020. He was born in 1950 in Stamford, CT and as a child lived in Salisbury, CT and Thessaloniki, Greece before he and his family settled on the Gill, MA campus of Northfield Mt. Hermon School. Richard attended Mt. Hermon School and was an outstanding student and a leader of the Nordic ski team and Outing Club. He went on to Harvard College, graduating cum laude in 1972. Richard traveled in India and the American West, lived briefly in New York City and completed a graduate program in Film Studies at Syracuse University in New York. Richard was a deep thinker, an avid reader and writer, and a highly skilled photographer who loved to challenge his body and his mind. He was reserved and introspective, but loved a good party and was the first onto the dance floor and the last to leave. Richard spent most of his adult life in Colorado, primarily in the Aspen area, where he pursued his passions for outdoor recreation and wilderness preservation. During his years in Colorado, he worked as a wilderness mapper, a mountaineering guide, a ski instructor and an environmental grant writer and advocate. In 2014, Richard moved back to New England and lived in South Hadley from then until his death. He is survived by his siblings, Betsy (and husband, Eric) and Bob and their children and grandchildren. There will be a private memorial service for the family. Donations in Richard’s memory can be sent to Northfield Mt. Hermon School – One Lamplighter Way, Gill, MA 01354; www. nmhschool.org – or Wilderness Workshop – 520 South 3rd St., Carbondale, CO 81623; www.wildernessworkshop.org.
AFTER-HOURS MEDICAL CARE ASPEN VALLEY HOSPITAL
ASPEN
AVH’s Respiratory Evaluation Center
Location: • Aspen Valley Hospital at 0401 Castle Creek Road, Aspen Hours of Operation: • Evaluation of patients with moderate to severe symptoms: Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 12 pm • Community symptomatic testing: Monday - Friday, 1 - 5 pm, and weekends 12 pm – 2pm, with a physician referral • Asymptomatic and Antibody testing available by appointment.
Details: • Physician referral required. • If you do not have a physician, call Aspen Valley Primary Care at 970.279.4111. • Cost (insured) – Tests will be billed to insurance. There is no out-of-pocket expense to the patient after insurance. • Cost (uninsured) – PCR testing is free – AVH is committed to cost not being a barrier to testing. Antibody testing $150 – $200.
Downtown Aspen Kiosk
Location: • Lot behind City Hall at 130 South Galena Street, Aspen Testing Hours: • 7 days/week, 9 am - 3:30 pm
Details: • Appointments encouraged, but not necessary. Go to curative.com. • Physician referral not required. • Cost (insured) – No cost. • Cost (uninsured) – No insurance necessary. Tests are provided whether or not you have insurance.
BASALT
Aspen Valley Primary Care’s Drive-Thru Testing Center Location: • Parking lot next to the Midvalley Health Institute at 1460 East Valley Road, Basalt Testing Hours: • Monday – Friday, 9 am – 3:30 pm
Details: • Appointment necessary. Go to curative.com. • Physician referral not required. • Cost (insured) – No cost. • Cost (uninsured) – No insurance necessary. Tests are provided whether or not you have insurance.
When you have unexpected medical needs, After-Hours Medical Care is here for you. We are staffed with doctors and nurses to answer your medical questions and treat minor injuries and illnesses, including: sprains, simple fractures, lacerations, UTIs ...and more. If you have respiratory symptoms, fever, sore throat, or flu/COVID-19-like symptoms, we can arrange a telemedicine consult for you by calling 970.544.1250.
970.544.1250
234 Cody Lane, Basalt Monday - Friday 3:00 – 11:00 pm
More detailed testing information is available on our website at aspenhospital.org.
Saturday & Sunday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
0401 Castle Creek Road, Aspen, CO 81611 | 970.925.1120 aspenhospital.org |
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THE SOPRIS SUN • Carbondale’s weekly community connector • January 7- January 13, 2021 • 13