Charles Ansbacher

Charles Ansbacher (born October 5, 1942 in Providence , Rhode Island , USA; † September 12, 2010 in Cambridge , Massachusetts , USA) was an American conductor .

Life

Ansbacher was the son of the well-known psychologist couple Heinz Ludwig Ansbacher and Rowena Ripin Ansbacher . He received his musical training through cello lessons in his childhood. In his youth he conducted the high school orchestra in Burlington, Vermont, performing a work by Gustav Mahler. His parents then let him attend classes at Greenwood Music Camp and Tanglewood . He first studied physics at Brown University (1965) and the University of Cincinnati (MM 1968, DMA 1979). He studied conducting at the Mozarteum Salzburg .

Ansbacher was the conductor and musical director of the Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra from 1970 to 1989 .

Ansbacher lived in Vienna in the mid-1990s , where he conducted several times at the Vienna State Opera and performed with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra Innsbruck . He also conducted the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra in their performances in Austria, including in the Great Festival Hall in Salzburg and in the Wiener Stadthalle . He paid particular attention to Eastern European countries in transition, where he conducted various orchestras and promoted cultural exchange. He brought not only the Sarajevo Philharmonic to Austria and Italy, but also leading members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra together with the Croatian pianist Ivo Pogorelich to organize the opening of the Croatian consulate in Chicago. Ansbacher was appointed conductor of orchestras in Boston, Moscow, Bishkek and Sarajevo. His most famous performances included a Brahms program at Harvard University 's Sanders Theater , Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and the performance of the same work in Belgrade with American and Russian soloists.

Shortly after moving from Colorado to Massachusetts, Ansbacher was a visiting scholar at the Harvard Music Department from 1998 to 1999.

In 2000 he founded the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, which gave free-entry classical music concerts in various locations in the greater Boston area . He also conducted the first-ever symphony concert at Fenway Park Stadium in Boston. On September 1, 2010, Ansbacher was appointed honorary conductor of this orchestra.

He also conducted the world premiere of a musical Mandela portrait in Johannesburg before it was performed in the US in 2004.

In December 2005 he conducted the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra in a performance with the Palestinian soloist Saleem Abboud Ashkar . In 2008 he was the first American conductor to conduct the Lebanese Symphony Orchestra. In Hanoi he was the first American to conduct the Vietnamese national orchestra. President Bill Clinton called Ansbacher "the unofficial US ambassador for music."

Political commitment

Ansbacher was also committed to society. As a White House Fellow, he was vice chairman of the Task Force on the Use of Design, Art, and Architecture in Transportation at the US Department of Transportation . Due to his interest in design and architecture, Ansbacher was appointed by Mayor Federico Peña as a member of the Blue Ribbon Committee for the design of the new Denver International Airport . He then remained in politics as chairman of the Colorado Council on the Arts and Humanities , to which he was appointed by Governor Roy Romer .

family

Ansbacher was married from 1985 to Swanee Hunt , who was US ambassador to Vienna from 1993 to 1997. Charles Ansbacher brought his son, who was born in 1970 and later filmmaker, Henry Ansbacher with him, while Swanee Hunt brought their daughter Lillian Shuff (* 1982). Together they got Theodore Ansbacher-Hunt.

See also : Heinz Ludwig Ansbacher and Rowena Ripin Ansbacher

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Grace Notes , Geoff Edgers, Boston Globe , August 9, 2002. Accessed November 20 of 2007.
2. ↑ https://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss564_bioghist.html