Homer Mensch, a bassist with the Pittsburgh Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and other orchestras, died on December 9, according an announcement from the Juilliard School, where he taught for three decades. He was 91. Born in New Jersey, Mensch studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Jacques Dalcroze School of Music; his teachers included New York Philharmonic principal bassist Anselme Fortier. As a teenager, he performed in the Dick Messner Big Band at the Hotel McAlpin in New York. "This was at the start of the Great Depression," he told the Juilliard Journal recently, "so pursuing a career in music was pretty risky. I was lucky that my parents didn't try to make me go into a field that was a safer bet." Read more.
Bassist and Teacher Homer Mensch Dies at 91 
