Brack, Charles

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Brack, Charles

Brack, Charles, Romanian-born French conductor and pedagogue; b. Timi§oara, May 2, 1911; d. Hancock, Maine, July 16, 1995. He studied at the Vienna Cons., then took courses with Perlemuter (piano) and Boulanger (composition) at the Paris École Normale de Musique; he also received instruction in conducting from Monteux (1934). In 1939 he became a naturalized French citizen. After winning the conducting competition of the Orch. Symphonique de Paris (1936), he served as its asst. conductor; he later conducted at the Cannes and Deauville Casinos (1949–50), the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam (1950–54), the Strasbourg Radio Sym. Orch. (1955–65), and the Orch. Philharmonique de l’ORTF in Paris (1965–70). Subsequently he was director of Monteux’s conducting school in Hancock, Maine until his death.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire