David Kim

David Kim is an American violinist, writer, and pedagogue born (in Carbondale, Illinois) on May 24, 1963.  He is known for being the long-time concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra.  His tenure began in 1999 (at age 36) and he now ranks among historic concertmasters for longevity, along with Raymond Gniewek (Met Opera), Glenn Dicterow (New York Philharmonic), Norman Carol (Philadelphia Orchestra), Naoum Blinder (San Francisco Symphony), and Richard Burgin (Boston Symphony).  Kim’s playing has often been described as elegant but he is equipped with a superb technique as well.  As all concertmasters do, he has been soloist with his orchestra many times and his solo repertoire is extensive.  In addition to his duties as concertmaster with the Philadelphia Orchestra, he is concertmaster of other orchestras (such as the Aspen and the All-Star Orchestras), although (understandably) on a part time basis.  Kim began lessons at age three, but I don’t know who his first teacher was.  (For unknown reasons, most violinists leave that information out of their biographies.)  He began classes with Dorothy Delay, a well-known teacher in New York at age 8.  Later, when he enrolled at Juilliard as an adult student, his main teachers there were Delay and Felix Galimir.  From that point, he took the career route that hundreds of violin students take.  His goal after graduating from Juilliard (in 1985), as is the goal of many graduates, was to become a touring concert artist – a soloist.  That field is, and has always been, extremely crowded with musicians who are seeking the same kind of spotlight.  Sometimes, Fate smiles on you and you make it into the top tier of soloists, say into the top twenty, and sometimes, it doesn’t.  When that doesn’t happen, you must take an orchestral job which offers financial security.  It is not a bad alternative, especially when it comes to a position as concertmaster of a world class orchestra.  In many ways, it is a far superior alternative - financially, artistically, and personally - to a touring life.  (Emanuel Borok was earning $800,000 as concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony before he retired in 2010.  He could never have made that kind of money as a soloist.)  From an artistic standpoint, concertmasters get to know dozens upon dozens of artists intimately, exchanging stimulating ideas about music (old and new), teaching, careers, instruments, conductors, and contacts among the world’s top artists.  Most concertmasters also enjoy teaching careers, and they get to play as soloists in recital or with orchestras around the world.  For Kim, being appointed concertmaster in Philadelphia came after he had already gained experience playing as concertmaster with other orchestras – those included the Dallas Symphony, the Jupiter (New York) Symphony, and the Norwalk (Connecticut) Symphony.  Kim’s orchestral life actually began at the late age of 31 – most concertmasters begin in their twenties.  (One of the youngest concertmasters in history was Paul Kochanski, who became concertmaster of the Warsaw Philharmonic at age 14.)  It is very rare for a concertmaster to remain with the same orchestra for 25 years or more, but Kim has done it.  Most jump from one concertmaster position to another.   Mischa Mischakoff was concertmaster of ten different orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra – I think he holds the record.  Kim has written a book – The Audition Method for Violin - published in 2022, which guides aspiring orchestral players on the auditioning process.  To say that Kim is a very busy concert artist, adjudicator, teacher, chamber musician, festival director, and recitalist is an understatement.  There is an abundance of information about him on the internet.  Here is a YouTube video of his, playing a slow movement from the Bach a minor Sonata for solo violin.  His strings of choice used to be the Thomastik Dominant brand but now he uses and endorses Larsen Strings.  Among the violins Kim has played are a 1757 J. B. Guadagnini, a Michele Bergonzi from 1754, and a Francesco Gofriller from 1735 – the dates given are approximations. 

Jacques Singer

Jacques Singer (Jakob Singer) was a Polish (some would say American) violinist and conductor born (in Przemysl, Poland) on May 9, 1910.  Although he was a very fine violinist, he is today remembered as a conductor, owing to the fact that he spent the latter part of his career as a conductor of various well-known orchestras, having almost given up playing the violin altogether.  In this respect he joins Edouard Colonne, Eugene Ormandy, Theodore Thomas, Charles Munch, Pierre Monteux, Neville Marriner, David Zinman, Alan Gilbert, Peter Oundjian, Orlando Barera, Jaap Van Zweden, and a few others.  Singer acquired a reputation for improving orchestras as well as improving audience attendance dramatically but he also faced problems wherever he went, feuding with music critics, orchestra members, or boards of directors.  He began his violin studies at a very early age and by age 7 had already performed in public.  When he was 10 years old, the family moved to the U.S, arriving in November of 1920.  They settled in Jersey City, a place very close to New York City.  In 1925, at about age 15, Singer made his American debut at Town Hall.  He then attended the Curtis Institute (Philadelphia), studying with Carl Flesch.  A year later (1927) he began studying at Juilliard.  He was 17 years old.  His teachers there were Paul Kochanski and Leopold Auer.  Singer graduated in 1930.  Two years before he graduated, he had joined the Philadelphia Orchestra, becoming the youngest player at that time.  One source claims he was fourteen years old when he joined the orchestra but that is very unlikely.  According to one source, Leopold Stokowski encouraged him to take up conducting.  By 1936, Singer had become the conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Youth Orchestra.  He was 26 years old.  The New York Times said he was a conductor to watch.  Singer was one of the first conductors to address the audience during concerts, something which violinist Henri Temianka also used to do before everyone else thought it was a good idea.  Singer was permanent conductor with the Dallas Symphony from 1938 to 1942.  He was very well received in Dallas but his tenure there was interrupted by the war.  In the Army, he conducted bands but also served as a soldier.  He possibly could have rejoined the Dallas Symphony after the war but he didn’t.  Why that is so is anyone’s guess.  During his tenure there, subscriptions tripled.  In 1946, he conducted summer concerts for two months in New Orleans.  In 1947, he was appointed music director at Vancouver (Canada.)  He stayed until 1951, leaving after feuding with the board of directors over budget issues.  He then formed a competing orchestra (the British Columbia Philharmonic) but that didn’t last.  He guest conducted in New York (Broadway) and in Israel (Jerusalem Radio Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, and Haifa Symphony) in 1952.  From 1955 until 1962, he served as conductor of the Corpus Christi Symphony.  In 1962, he was again guest-conducting in England (London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic) among many other places, including South America.  He renewed his contract with the Corpus Christi Symphony in 1962 but soon asked to be released because the Portland Symphony offered him a position (and possibly a better financial deal) beginning the same year.  He conducted in Portland from 1962 to 1971 – he did not conduct during the 1972-1973 season although he was paid for it.  He left after a feud about artistic matters.  The Portland Symphony became the Oregon Symphony during his tenure.  Players in that orchestra (and others) often complained about his brusque, bombastic manner, his volatile temper, and his poor conducting technique, but admired his musicianship and exciting entrepreneurial style.  Singer spent the rest of his life in New York and DeKalb (Illinois), conducting, among others, the American Symphony Orchestra and the Northern Illinois Philharmonic.  I’m guessing that there are some recorded broadcasts around somewhere although not readily available.  Singer died in Manhattan on August 11, 1980, at age 70.  

Norman Carol

Norman Carol is an American violinist and teacher born (in Philadelphia) on July 1, 1928.  He is best known for being the Philadelphia Orchestra’s concertmaster from 1966 to 1994.  Among orchestral musicians and concert artists around the world, his name is instantly recognized.  When musicians speak of concertmasters, Norman Carol is one of a small handful who immediately come to mind.  He began his violin studies at age 6 and made his first public appearance at age 9.  At age 13, he entered the Curtis Institute (Philadelphia) from which he graduated in 1947.  There, he studied with Efrem Zimbalist (one of Leopold Auer’s famous pupils) and William Primrose, among others.  In that same year, Carol, then 18 or 19 years old, was invited (by conductor Serge Koussevitsky) to join the Boston Symphony but Carol declined.  He gave his Town Hall debut two years later – April of 1949.  He was 20 years old.  The debut was very successful and was highly praised.  Interestingly, Carol then joined the Boston Symphony (first violin section, but I don’t know at which desk) and played in that orchestra from 1949 until 1952.  Thereafter, he embarked on a solo career which was soon interrupted by the Korean War.  After his military service, he restarted his solo career but was soon tempted to join the New Orleans Symphony as concertmaster.  He remained there between 1956 and 1959.  In 1959, Carol became concertmaster of the Minneapolis Symphony and stayed until 1965.  He and conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski began their tenures with the Minneapolis Symphony in the same year.  In 1965, Eugene Ormandy chose Carol to lead the Philadelphia Orchestra as concertmaster and his career there began in the 1966-1967 season.  He was 39 years old.  His first of dozens of appearances with the orchestra took place on December 26, 1966.  However, he had already appeared as soloist with the orchestra back on March 12, 1954, during his brief concertizing career.  On that occasion he played the Mendelssohn concerto.  He played (in 1966) the Barber concerto, the same concerto which Albert Spalding had premiered with the orchestra (with Ormandy on the podium) in 1941.  Coincidentally, Carol was by then playing the same violin Spalding had used for his premiere performance of this concerto.  [On November 13, 1954, Carol  made his New York Philharmonic debut, playing Mozart's fifth concerto.]  Carol stayed in Philadelphia for 28 seasons.  His retirement in 1994 was mostly due to a shoulder injury he had sustained three years previously.  Other violinists who have sustained injuries which affected their careers are Rodolphe Kreutzer, Bronislaw Huberman, Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, and Erick Friedman.  It is likely that only concertmasters Richard Burgin (Boston Symphony) and Raymond Gniewek (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra) exceed his longevity with a single orchestra.  He may also have been the first to play the concertos of Benjamin Britten, Paul Hindemith, and Carl Nielsen, as well as Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade in Philadelphia.  In 1979, Carol began teaching at the Curtis Institute and is still teaching there.  He has played a 1743 Guarnerius del Gesu since about 1957.  It had been previously owned by Felix Slatkin, father of conductor Leonard Slatkin, and by Albert Spalding before him.  He has also owned a 1966 Sergio Peresson violin and a 1695 Stradivarius previously owned (and played) by American violinist Leonora Jackson and, before her, by Emil Mlynarski (one of the founders of the Warsaw Philharmonic and father-in-law of pianist Artur Rubinstein.)  One of Norman Carol's recordings – done for RCA in 1958 – is available here.  

Arthur Judson

Arthur Judson (Arthur Leon Judson) was an American violinist, conductor, and artist manager born (in Dayton, Ohio, USA) on February 17, 1881.  After giving up his career as a concert violinist, he became the most powerful artist manager and promoter in U.S. history.  One source has him starting his violin studies at age 8 and another at age 12.  Two of his teachers were Max Bendix (famous for his connection to Theodore Thomas) and Leopold Lichtenberg (teacher at the National Conservatory in New York, where Antonin Dvorak was the Director from 1891 to 1895.)  He graduated from High School in 1899 but his enthusiasm and ambition were soon evident in the fact that he became the Director of the music department at Denison University (Ohio) at age 19.  At that University in 1903, he performed the (Richard) Strauss violin sonata, said to be the best violin sonata ever written.  The performance, according to Judson, marked the U.S. premiere of the work.  That claim, however, is debatable, since the sonata was completed in 1888 and it is unlikely that it would have taken fifteen years for it to reach the American public.  After his stint at Denison (1900-1907), he went to New York City to establish himself as a concert violinist.  By then, he had also been concertmaster of the orchestra at the Victoria Theatre in Dayton.  Since his efforts to make a living as an artist yielded few results, he went into the magazine business, finding employment as music critic and advertising manager for the magazine Musical America.  He spent 8 years there.  In this capacity, he became very well-known by artists and administrators around the country.  It thus appears that his playing career lasted about 7 years.  In 1915, he was named manager of the Philadelphia Orchestra.  He was 34 years old.  Shortly thereafter, he created an artist management agency in Philadelphia and in New York as well.  In 1922, he became manager of the New York Philharmonic.  By 1927, he had launched his own radio network, something called the United Independent Broadcasters, which was, within a few months, bought by William Paley.  Paley renamed it the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS.)  Judson thus became a major stockholder in the new company.  The initial intent of Judson’s broadcasting network had simply been to bring artists which he managed to national attention through various radio programs, but, the end result was something far more significant.  He was 46 years old.  By 1930, Judson had control of Columbia Artists Management, and managed the careers of 125 artists and organizations.  Columbia Artists Management had been created via a merger of one of Judson’s agencies with 7 other management firms.  After public criticism of the conflicts of interest created by his myriad activities, Judson resigned his position with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934.  Also, because of his monopolistic influence – by 1935 he controlled two thirds of the concert action around the U.S. – and the incestuous business structures resulting from his management of orchestras, radio networks, and artists, he was in 1939 investigated by the federal government.  This resulted in his slowly restructuring and diversifying his empire, though his considerable influence, even in the area of orchestral programming, continued unabated for many years thereafter.  It has been said that Judson stopped representing the conductor Otto Klemperer after Klemperer programmed one of Mahler’s symphonies for a New York Philharmonic concert, a decision which Judson disagreed with - I don’t like Mahler either so I would have sided with Judson.  He kept his position with the New York Philharmonic until 1956.  He was 75 years old.  Of course, he was very wealthy by then.  Arthur Judson died (in New York) on January 28, 1975, at age 93. 

Eugene Ormandy

Eugene Ormandy (Jeno Blau) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, and arranger born (in Budapest) on November 18, 1899.  Since he became a famous conductor, hardly anyone remembers that he played violin.  He enjoyed the longest tenure (unlikely to ever be surpassed) of any American conductor – 44 years with the Philadelphia Orchestra.  Nobody seems to know where the name “Ormandy” came from – he only adopted it after coming to the U.S. in 1921.  He began studying violin at the Royal Academy of Music (the Franz Liszt Academy) at age 5 then studied with Jeno Hubay (from age 9) for a number of years graduating at age 14, though some sources say at age 17.  Eddy Brown was a fellow student of his – in fact, when Brown and Ormandy competed in the Budapest Concerto Competition, Ormandy took second prize and Brown took first.  He then also studied Philosophy and received a degree in that subject in 1920.  For a time, Ormandy served as concertmaster of the Bluthner Orchestra in Germany and made recital and concert appearances as well.  In the U.S., he started out playing second violin in the Capitol Theatre Orchestra in New York City.  This was a rather large orchestra comprised of about 75 players of which Elias Breeskin, the notorious gambler and future father of Olga Breeskin, was concertmaster.  However, being a superlative violinist, Ormandy was soon promoted to concertmaster.  He was 22 years old.  Though he had been trained as a concert violinist, he never got a chance to concertize in this country since he quickly developed a taste for conducting.  Nevertheless, he recorded as a solo violinist between 1923 and 1929.  I do not know where those recordings can be found; perhaps among his archives at the University of Pennsylvania.  Among other conductors who entirely abandoned the instrument are Neville Marriner, David Zinman, Pierre Monteux, Charles Munch, Orlando Barera, Theodore Thomas, and Jaap Van Zweden.  Though he conducted the New York Philharmonic in 1929, Ormandy’s big break came on October 30, 1931, when he was asked to substitute in Philadelphia for an indisposed Toscanini – the ill-tempered Italian conductor.  Many a big career has been launched under similar circumstances.  It is known that Arthur Judson, another violinist who abandoned the violin (in favor of concert management), helped him to establish his career.  In 1931, he was appointed conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony and stayed until 1936.  That year (1936), he was appointed to his post in Philadelphia where he stayed for 44 years (1936-1980.)  He actually shared the post with Stokowski for the first two years.  Though he conducted many U.S. premieres, he never came close to Theodore Thomas’ record of 112 works premiered with the Chicago Symphony.  His most historic recording might be the three Rachmaninoff piano concertos he recorded with the composer at the keyboard.  His recorded legacy is very extensive and can be easily accessed on the Internet.  The Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy was the first to tour China (1973) and the first to appear on American Television (1948.)  He sometimes guest conducted other orchestras too - the New York Philharmonic, the London Symphony, and the Metropolitan Opera among them.  Ormandy died (in Philadelphia) on March 12, 1985, at age 85.  He died of pneumonia, just as did Theodore Thomas eighty years before him.