Sharrow, Leonard

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Sharrow, Leonard

SharrOW, Leonard, noted American bassoonist and pedagogue; b. N.Y, Aug. 4, 1915. He studied at the Inst. of Musical Art in N.Y. (1932–35). He was first bassoonist in the National Sym. Orch. in Washington, D.C. (1935–37), then played in the NBC Sym. Orch. in N.Y. (1937–41); subsequently was first bassoonist in the Buffalo Phil. (1946), Detroit Sym. Orch. (1946–47), NBC Sym. Orch. (1947–51), Chicago Sym. Orch. (1951–64), and Pittsburgh Sym. Orch. (1977–87). He taught at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. (1948–51), Roosevelt Coll. in Chicago (1952–55), the Ind. Univ. School of Music in Bloomington (1964–77), the Aspen (Colo.) Music School (from 1967), and the New England Cons. of Music in Boston (1986–89). He also toured as a bassoon virtuoso and chamber music player. As a teacher, he was mentor to several generations of bassoonists. He publ. eds. of works by Corelli, Vivaldi, Handel, Boismortier, Weber, Hummel, J.A. Koželuh et al.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire