Dean Dixon
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Dean Dixon (born January 10, 1915 in New York City , † November 4, 1976 in Zug / Switzerland ) was an American conductor . He is considered to be the first African American to conduct large American symphony orchestras and one of the first Americans to hold a position as a conductor in European orchestras.
Life
Dixon studied conducting with Albert Stoessel at the Juilliard School and graduated from Columbia University . In 1931, at the age of 16, he founded his own orchestra and choir. In 1941 he was guest conductor of the NBC Symphony Orchestra , then the New York Philharmonic Orchestra . In the following years he was also a guest conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra . Because of his skin color had Dixon as conductor but difficult in the United States and went to Europe in 1949, where he first the Paris Orchestra of Radio France conducted. From 1950 to 1951 he led the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra , from 1953 to 1960 the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra , from 1964 to 1967 the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and from 1961 to 1974 the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra . In 1970 he returned to America in triumph. He was invited to conduct in front of an audience of 75,000 in Central Park and - made an honorary citizen of New York - was allowed to receive the golden key from the hands of Mayor John Lindsay .
Dean Dixon has directed most of the major symphony orchestras in Europe, Israel, Japan and Latin America. He introduced the European public to many American composers, such as William Grant Still . The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers honored him with the Award of Merit for his efforts to attract American youth to music.
Dean Dixon's first marriage was to the American pianist Vivian Rivkin, with whom he also made several recordings of concert works. a. George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue .
Web links
- Dean Dixon, a world renowned conductor
- Dean Dixon at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
Hans Rosbaud (1929–1937) | Otto Frickhoeffer (1937–1945) | Kurt Schröder (1946–1953) | Otto Matzerath (1955–1961) | Dean Dixon (1961-1974) | Eliahu Inbal (1974-1990) | Dmitri Kitajenko (1990–1997) | Hugh Wolff (1997-2006) | Paavo Järvi (2006–2013) | Andrés Orozco-Estrada (since 2014)
Heinrich Hammer (1905–1907) | Wilhelm Stenhammar (1907–1922) | Ture Rangström (1922–1925) | Tor Mann (1925–1939) | Issay Dobrowen (1941–1953) | Dean Dixon (1953-1960) | Sergiu Comissiona (1967–1973) | Sixten Ehrling (1974–1976) | Charles Dutoit (1976-1979) | Neeme Järvi (1982-2004) | Mario Venzago (2004–2007) | Gustavo Dudamel (2007–2012) | Santtu-Matias Rouvali (since 2017)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dixon, Dean |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American conductor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 10, 1915 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th November 1976 |
| Place of death | Zug / Switzerland |