HELSINKI (AP) — The prolific Finnish conductor and composer Leif Segerstam, who was one of the most colorful personalities in the Nordic country’s classical music scene, will be remembered in a tribute event at the Finnish National Opera following his funeral next month, his family said Monday.
His son Jan Segerstam told The Associated Press that the Nov. 8 memorial for his father, who died in Helsinki on Oct. 9 at age 80 from complications following pneumonia, will showcase his musical history. He said it will include musical tributes for the artist who composed his first work at age 6 and was also a violinist.
As a composer, Segerstam became known for creating 371 symphonies, which he claimed was a world record. The large number is partly explained by the brevity of many works.
Even illness didn’t stop his composing.
“He was creating music at the hospital, together with visiting music friends, still a few days before his death,” his son said.
The last symphony created by Segerstam premiered in Helsinki during his 80th birthday in March. In an interview by Finnish news agency STT to mark his birthday, he said conducting an orchestra supported his composer’s work, as it gives “a deeper knowledge of the soul life of the tunes.”
From 1963 on, he conducted a variety of orchestras in Europe, including the Finnish National Opera, the Royal Swedish Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.
He also guest-conducted for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Born in the coastal city of Vaasa in western Finland, Segerstam was brought up in a musical family. He initially trained as a violinist and pianist and studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and The Juilliard School in New York.
From 1997 until 2013, he was a professor of orchestra conducting at the Sibelius Academy, where his students included now-prominent Finnish and international conductors.
“Leif was a very colorful human being,” his son said. “He was a peculiar person who lived through the feelings of his music. That was his context. For many people coming from a more conventional background, he seemed to be an eccentric.”
Segerstam was married and divorced twice and is survived by five children from the two marriages.
Finnish conductor, composer Leif Segerstam pictured at his home in Helsinki, Finland on Feb. 8, 2024. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP)
Finnish conductor, composer Leif Segerstam pictured at his home in Helsinki, Finland on Feb. 8, 2024. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP)
Finnish conductor, composer Leif Segerstam pictured at his home in Helsinki, Finland on Feb. 8, 2024. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP)
Finnish conductor, composer Leif Segerstam pictured at his home in Helsinki, Finland on Feb. 8, 2024. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) —
A Texas man whose execution was halted will not appear to testify at state Capitol following objections to transporting him from prison, officials announced Monday.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas man whose execution was halted after a last-ditch maneuver by lawmakers who believe Robert Roberson did not kill his 2-year-old daughter was expected to testify before a state House panel on Monday, four days after he had been scheduled to die by lethal injection.
Roberson had been set to become the first person in the U.S. executed over a murder conviction connected to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. His claims of innocence are backed by a group of Republican and Democratic legislators who say he was convicted based on outdated science.
Once Roberson testifies to lawmakers, prosecutors could seek a new execution date at any time, according to Gretchen Sween, one of his attorneys.
Lawmakers have sought to have Roberson transported from death row to appear in person, raising the possibility of an extraordinary scene in the Texas Capitol, but the state attorney general's office told the committee he would appear virtually.
Committee members were continuing to push for Roberson to appear in person and that it is a requirement of his subpoena, according to Sween.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's office said the Texas Supreme Court should throw out the subpoena, writing that the House committee has “stepped out of line” in their first public statement on the case.
Rebuffed by the courts and Texas’ parole board in their efforts to spare Roberson’s life, legislators last Thursday subpoenaed Roberson to testify in an unusual tactic to buy him more time. Lawmakers on the House committee have expressed frustration with Texas' junk science law, which they say has failed to work as intended, including in Roberson's case.
The 2013 law allows a person convicted of a crime to seek relief if the evidence used against them is no longer credible. At the time, it was hailed by the Legislature as a uniquely future-proof solution to wrongful convictions based on faulty science. But Roberson’s supporters say his case points to faults in the judicial system where the law has been weakened by deliberate misinterpretation from the state’s highest criminal court.
In the last 10 years, 74 applications have been filed and ruled on under the junk science law. A third of applications were submitted by people facing the death penalty. All of them were unsuccessful.
Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell, whose office prosecuted Roberson, has previously told the committee that a court hearing was held in 2022 in which Roberson’s attorneys presented their new evidence to a judge, who rejected their claims.
Roberson was sentenced to death for the killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in 2002. Prosecutors argued the infant's death was caused by serious head trauma from being violently shaken back and forth. Roberson's attorneys say that the bruising on Curtis' body was likely due to complications with severe pneumonia and not child abuse.
Almost 90 lawmakers across party lines, medical experts and best-selling author John Grisham had called on Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to stay his execution. Abbott has not commented on Roberson's case and the Texas parole board rejected pleas to grant clemency.
Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Texas state representatives Lacey Hull, left, and John Bucy III comment during a press conference after the stay granted by the Texas Supreme Court to halt the execution of Robert Roberson, at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Jennifer Martin, left, and Thomas Roberson, older brother of condemned prisoner Robert Roberson, right, holds signs as they protest outside the prison where Roberson is scheduled for execution at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Texas man whose execution was halted by subpoena set to testify to lawmakers
Texas man whose execution was halted by subpoena set to testify to lawmakers
FILE - Texas lawmakers meet with Robert Roberson at a prison in Livingston, Texas, Sept. 27, 2024. (Criminal Justice Reform Caucus via AP, File)
