Lewis, Daniel

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Lewis, Daniel

Lewis, Daniel, American conductor and pedagogue; b. Flagstaff, Ariz., May 10, 1925. He studied composition with Marcelli in San Diego (1939–41) and received violin lessons in Boston. During World War II, he saw military service in Hawaii, where he was concertmaster of the Honolulu Sym. Orch., first violinist in the U.S. Navy String Quartet, and a conductor of navy ensembles. After the War, he pursued his education at San Diego State Coll. (B.M., 1949) and at the Claremont (Calif.) Graduate School (M.A., 1950). He was asst. conductor (1954–56) and assoc. conductor and concertmaster (1956–59) of the San Diego Sym. Orch. In 1959 he held a Fulbright scholarship and studied with Eugen Jochum at the Munich Hochschule für Musik and with Karajan in Salzburg. After conducting the La Jolla (Calif.) Sym. Orch. (1961–69) and the Orange County (Calif.) Sym. Orch. (1966–70), he was music director of the Pasadena (Calif.) Sym. Orch. (1972–84). He also appeared as a guest conductor with major American orchs. He taught at Calif. State Univ. at Fullerton (1963–70) and at the Univ. of Southern Calif. in Los Angeles (from 1970).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire