Waldman, Frederic

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Waldman, Frederic

Waldman, Frederic Austrian-born American conductor and teacher; b. Vienna, April 17,1903; d. N.Y., Dec. 1, 1995. He studied piano with Richard Robert, orchestration and conducting with Szell, and composition with Weigl. After serving as music director of the Ballet Joos of the Netherlands, he was active in England from 1935 In 1941 he settled in N.Y. and was active as a piano accompanist. After teaching at the Mannes Coll. of Music, he taught at the Juilliard School of Music (1947-67), where, as music director of its Opera Theater, he conducted the American premieres of Strauss’ Capriccio (1954) and Kodály’s Háry János (1960). In 1961 he founded the Musica Aeterna Orch. and Chorus, which he conducted in enterprising programs of rarely heard music of the past and present eras, ranging from Monteverdi to Rieti.

—Niolas Slonimky/Laura kuhn/Dennis McIntre