I Cantori ensemble leader Edward Cansino dies

LOS ANGELES - Edward Cansino, a composer and conductor who led the eclectic vocal and instrumental ensemble I Cantori, has died. He was 63.

Cansino died of cancer Sunday at his home in Altadena, near Los Angeles, said his wife, Gina Di Massa Cansino.

I Cantori, Italian for "the singers," provided a showcase for early music, which generally includes compositions covering the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods until 1750, but didn't stop there. "Our philosophy was to explore the relationship between new music and old music," said Jeannine Wagner, director of the Roger Wagner Ensemble who founded I Cantori with Cansino in 1975.

Cansino was born in Hollywood on Oct. 20, 1947. His grandfather was the Spanish classical dancer Eduardo Cansino and his aunt was actress Rita Hayworth.

Cansino also is survived by a daughter, Arianne Dawson Cansino, from his first marriage to Rayne Dawson; brothers Raoul of Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., and Raymond of Post Falls, Idaho; and his mother, Teresa, also of Post Falls.

- Los Angeles Times