Occupation Violinist Name Efrem Zimbalist | Role Actor Books Vid (Red Flag) Auditing | |
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Born April 21, 1889 ( 1889-04-21 ) Rostov on Don, Russia Relatives Stephanie Zimbalist (granddaughter) Died May 2, 2014, Solvang, California, United States Children Stephanie Zimbalist, Nancy Zimbalist, Efrem Zimbalist III Spouse Loranda Stephanie Spaulding (m. 1956–2007), Emily Munroe McNair (m. 1945–1950) Movies and TV shows The FBI, 77 Sunset Strip, Batman: The Animated, Wait Until Dark, Hot Shots! Similar People Stephanie Zimbalist, Edd Byrnes, Alma Gluck, Roger Smith, Eric Radomski | ||
Efrem Zimbalist plays Brahms Violin Concerto Op.77 ( Koussevitzky 1946)
Efrem Zimbalist Sr. (April 21, 1889 - February 22, 1985) was an internationally known concert violinist, composer, teacher, conductor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music.
Contents
- Efrem Zimbalist plays Brahms Violin Concerto Op77 Koussevitzky 1946
- Efrem zimbalist jr 1918 2014
- Early life
- Career
- Curtis Institute
- Compositions
- Public life
- Personal life
- References
Efrem zimbalist jr 1918 2014
Early life
Zimbalist was born in the southwestern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, the son of Jewish parents Maria (née Litvinoff) and Aron Zimbalist (Цимбалист, Russian pronunciation [tsɪmbaˈlʲist]), who was a conductor. By the age of nine, Efrem Zimbalist was first violin in his father’s orchestra. At age 12 he entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and studied under Leopold Auer. He graduated from the Conservatory in 1907 after winning a gold medal and the Rubinstein Prize, and by age 21 was considered one of the world's greatest violinists.
Career
After graduation he debuted in Berlin (playing the Brahms Concerto) and London in 1907 and in the United States in 1911, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1912, he played the Glazunov Concerto in a concert marking Leopold Stokowski's first appearance with the London Symphony Orchestra. He then settled in the United States. He did much to popularize the performance of early music. In 1917, he was elected as an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music, by the fraternity's Alpha Chapter at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He retired as a violinist in 1949, but returned in 1952 to give the first performance of the Violin Concerto by Gian Carlo Menotti, which is dedicated to him. He retired again in 1955. He served as a juror of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1962 and 1966.
Curtis Institute
In 1928, Zimbalist began teaching at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He was director of the school from 1941 to 1968. His pupils included such distinguished musicians as Aaron Rosand, Oscar Shumsky, Joseph Silverstein, Jascha Brodsky, John Dalley, Michael Tree, Felix Slatkin, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Harold Wippler and Hidetaro Suzuki. See: List of music students by teacher: T to Z#Efrem Zimbalist.
Compositions
His own compositions include a violin concerto, the American Rhapsody, a tone poem called Daphnis and Chloe, a Fantasy on themes from The Golden Cockerel by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and a piece called Sarasateana, for violin and piano. He also wrote an opera, Landara, which premiered in Philadelphia in 1956.
Public life
Pablo Casals writes in his biography, Joys and Sorrows, that Zimbalist was a member of the Musician's Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy which Casals founded and chaired in 1936.
Personal life
He married the famous American soprano Alma Gluck and they toured together for a time. Alma Gluck died in 1938. In 1943, having been a widower for five years, he married the school's founder, Mary Louise Curtis Bok, daughter of publisher, Cyrus Curtis, and 14 years his senior.
He died in 1985, at the age of 95. His and Alma's son, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., and their granddaughter, Stephanie Zimbalist, both became popular actors.