Melvin Strauss, beloved father, grandfather, and friend, passed away September 5, 2012 after a prolonged illness.

Mel was born on March 30, 1929 in Newark, NJ. He attended the Julliard School of Music. He received a MA degree from New York University and a BA degree from Rutgers University. At the Tanglewood Music Center, he worked with Leonard Bernstein, received a Fromm Fellowship in Contemporary Music and the coveted Koussevitsky Conducting Prize from the Boston Symphony. He was a Professor Emeritus at Wesleyan University, and a tenured Professor at Rutgers, SUNY at Buffalo, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Mel was the Associate Conductor of the Buffalo Philarmonic Orchestra and a guest conductor for the Seattle Symphony and Wenatchee Valley Symphony. He also was the music director and co-founder of the Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogot, Columbia where he had the honor of performing for the Pope. Mel was also the President of Cornish College of the Arts from 1975-1985.

He is survived by his daughter, Jamie (Robert), Cohon and grand-children, Jeremy and Ashley Cohon.