In Memory of
Lynette Diers Cohen

Cleveland Heights- Lynette Diers Cohen, an admired bassoonist who helped found the local ensemble known as Red (an orchestra), died August 19, 2003 of cancer at her home in Cleveland Heights. She was 55. Cohen had a thriving performing career in Cleveland and around the country. Cohen performed at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival with her husband, Franklin Cohen, principal clarinetist of the Cleveland Orchestra, and at the Marlboro Music Festival and Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival.

Locally, she played principal bassoon in the Ohio Chamber Orchestra and the Cleveland Opera Orchestra.

After the Ohio Chamber Orchestra disbanded several years ago, Cohen and colleagues laid the groundwork for the formation of Red (an orchestra), which begins its second season this fall.

"She reminded us every day about the joy of music and the joy of living," said Jonathan Sheffer, artistic director of Red. "I feel that Red is her legacy - that and her children. She saw opportunity everywhere and realized a lot of her dream in the creation of the orchestra. I saw it on her face when she played."

Cohen, a native of Seattle, Wash., attended Oberlin College, where she studied bassoon with Kenneth Moore.

She also studied with Sol Schoenbach, the late principal bassoonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Cohen's career began in the Atlanta Symphony, whose music director at the time was Robert Shaw. She moved to Cleveland in 1976, when her husband joined the Cleveland Orchestra, and became a busy freelancer and teacher throughout the area.

She played extra bassoon with the Cleveland Orchestra and taught at Baldwin-Wallace College, Oberlin College and the University of Akron, where she was a member of Solaris, the faculty wind quintet. She also coached chamber music at Cleveland Heights High School.

Cohen particularly enjoyed performing chamber music with her husband and their children, Diana, a violinist, and Alexander, a percussionist. Franklin Cohen said his wife remained upbeat even in the face of her prolonged illness.

"She simply knew how to push the sunlight and was always there for family and friends," he said. "She was always reaching further and enriching other people's lives. That's just the way she was."

In addition to her husband and children, Cohen is survived by her mother, Ivy Diers, and a brother, Greg, both of Seattle.

Donald Rosenberg
Plain Dealer Music Critic
8/20/03