Acclaimed conductor and pianist Andre Previn dies at 89

REUTERS - Acclaimed conductor, composer and pianist Andre Previn, a versatile musician who won four Academy Awards for film scores and led some of the world's great orchestras while mastering a rainbow of musical forms, died on Thursday (February 28) at age 89, his management company said. Previn, who won numerous awards for his musical accomplishments, was composing new music until only a few days before he passed away, IMG Artists said in a statement. The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear and the company could not be reached for further comment. The German-born musical prodigy who fled Nazi persecution with his Jewish family in 1938 to Paris and then Los Angeles, Previn made his name as a jazz musician and writing scores for movies. By the end of his career, he had become one of the prominent music figures in the second half of the 20th century. He also generated headlines with his controversial personal life. He was married five times. In 1969, while still married to his second wife, Previn became involved with Mia Farrow, the former wife of actor and singer Frank Sinatra and the future partner of movie director Woody Allen. Farrow and Previn married in 1970 after she had given birth to twins and just weeks after his divorce came through. They divorced in 1979. Soon-Yi Previn, an adopted daughter of Previn and Farrow, later became Allen's wife.