Eleanor Russell; CSUN Music Professor

Eleanor Russell, a Cal State Northridge professor emeritus of music who taught at the university for 25 years, has died at her Pasadena home. She was 62.

A former resident of Northridge and North Hollywood, Miss Russell died Nov. 18 of lung cancer, said her husband, G. Truett Hollis.

Born in Denver, she began her music studies at an early age, learning the violin and piano. After studying at Stephens College in Missouri, she received her bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1953. She then moved to California, where she taught music at schools in the Long Beach area for several years.

Miss Russell continued her education at USC, receiving a master’s degree in 1958. She received her Ph.D. in 1969, writing her dissertation on 16th-Century Spanish composer Juan Vasquez after research in Spain.

In 1963, she joined the faculty of CSUN’s music department as an assistant professor. During her 25 years at the university, she taught courses in piano and musicology to both graduate and undergraduate students. She retired in 1988 as professor emeritus.

“She could spur lively conversations among the students . . . in the classroom and was able to bring each one of the students into play,” said Prof. Linda Stones, Russell’s CSUN colleague for many years. “Her teaching was excellent.”

Among her professional achievements, Miss Russell specialized in the study of Spanish Renaissance music, including the work of such composers as Cristobal de Morales and Pedro Rimonte. She studied in Spain in 1968 as a Fulbright scholar and wrote several entries on Spanish composers in the New Grove Dictionary of Music.

Miss Russell also lectured at universities in England and Spain and was a member of the American Musicological Society.

In addition to her husband of 22 years, she is survived by a brother, John Russell of Parker, Colo.

At Miss Russell’s request, there were no services. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Russell’s name to the Friends of the Pasadena Public Library, 285 E. Walnut St., Pasadena 91101, or to a charity of the donor’s choice.