Baumgartner, Rudolf

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Baumgartner, Rudolf

Baumgartner, Rudolf, Swiss violinist and conductor; b. Zürich, Sept. 14, 1917. He studied at the Univ. of Zürich and pursued training in violin with Stefi Geyer and Paul Müller at the Zürich Cons., with Carl Flesch in Paris, and with Wolfgang Schneiderhan in Vienna. He began his career as a chamber music player, and also appeared as a soloist. In 1954 he joined the faculty of the Lucerne Cons., where he served as its director from 1960 to 1987. With Schneiderhan, he founded the Lucerne Festival Strings in 1956, and subsequently served as its director. From 1968 to 1980 he was artistic director of the Lucerne Festival.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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