In Memoriam

Joseph Rasmussen

Nashville Symphony percussionist Joseph Rasmussen suffered a heart attack and died Sunday, September 4, while running a marathon in Virginia.

The following information was received from the Nashville Symphony:

A native of Long Island, New York, Rasmussen joined the Nashville Symphony in 1979. Previously, he was a member of the Continental Army Command Band in Ft. Monroe, Virginia, and toured the United States and Europe with Steve Reich and Musicians. Rasmussen held a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin, a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School and an A.B.D. for Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.

"Joe was an outstanding member of our Symphony family and one of the very best mallet instrument players I have ever known," said Alan D. Valentine, president and CEO of the Nashville Symphony. "He will be sorely missed in every way imaginable."

"Joe was a warm, very kind-hearted person who always wanted to help others," said Nashville Symphony assistant principal flute and long-time friend Ann Richards. "He enjoyed organizing running groups within the orchestra and, in the 1990s, coordinated a benefit concert for the orchestra in Sarajevo, which was lacking instruments and funds. That was just the kind of person he was…always thinking of others."

In addition to his work with the Nashville Symphony, Rasmussen directed the Tennessee Technological University percussion ensemble and ABUSUA: the University’s West African drumming and dance ensemble, which has taken summer study trips to Ghana, West Africa. Under his direction, student groups from Tennessee Tech have performed from Orlando to West Point at state, regional and national conferences. A past president of the Tennessee Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society, Rasmussen was also professor of percussion at Tennessee Tech.

He is survived by his wife, Ljerka Rasmussen; two sons, David and Anton Rasmussen; a daughter, Josalyn Burgess; three brothers, a sister, and two grandchildren. The Nashville Symphony will establish a memorial fund at the Symphony for those wanting to make gifts in his memory.