WINTHROP, Wash. -- A well-known Seattle music conductor was killed in a car crash near Winthrop Saturday.
George Shangrow, 59, was en route to the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival to deliver a pre-concert lecture, when his car was hit head-on by a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction that crossed the center line. Troopers say there was heavy rain at the time of the accident.
Shangrow has a resume dating back four decades in Seattle. He founded the Seattle Chamber Singers and Orchestra Seattle and had conducted with the Seattle Symphony. He was a frequent lecturer and teacher and was a longtime radio host on KING FM.
His friends and collaboraters are says his musical resume was as impressive as his personality.
"(He was) a good friend of mine who I just looked forward to with everything I ever did with him," said pianist Mark Salman, "One of those people who was just fun."
"Beyond Shock," says Margaret Pressley who worked with Shangrow at the Seattle Conservatory of Music. "In so many ways he impacted our musical commujnity, that the loss is just unbelievable. Immeasurable."
The 16-year-old driver who caused the wreck was hospitalized with collar bone and ankle injuries. Troopers do not believe drugs nor alcohol played a role in the accident.
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