Harold Sumberg

Harold Sumberg (born August 25, 1905 in Rochester / New York , † January 6, 1994 in Toronto ) was a Canadian violinist, conductor and music teacher.

After training at Dovercourt College of Music in Toronto, Sumberg studied violin in Berlin from 1922 to 1927 with Carl Markees , Henry Holst and Willy Hess . From 1927 to 1956 he taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Here he was a member of the Conservatory String Quartet from 1929 to 1945 , founded the Conservatory String Orchestra in 1941 and directed the Sumberg Studio String Orchestra , in which many of his violin and viola students participated, including Nathan Green , Phyllis Gummer , Stephen Kondaks , Eveline Maguire , Samuel Margolian and Victor Zuchter .

In 1928 he joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra , where he was second concertmaster from 1931 to 1957. From 1934 to 1940 he was concertmaster, soloist and conductor at the Promenade Symphony Concerts , a series of summer concerts in Toronto. In the 1930s he was also a member of the New World Chamber Orchestra under Samuel Hersenhoren and concertmaster of the Toronto Chamber Music Society led by Albert David Jordan .

Sumberg performed in a duo with the pianist Alberto Guerrero and in a trio with Guerrero and Cornelius Ysselstyn (later as the Sumberg Trio with Ysselstyn and the pianist Leo Barkin ). In 1945 he became musical director of the Intermezzo CBC series . In the series of programs he initiated, Symphonys for Strings , he played premieres of Godfrey Ridout's Two Etudes , which are dedicated to him, Harry Somers ' Scherzo and Slow Movement for Strings and John Weinzweig's Divertimento No. 2 as well as works by Howard Cable , Robert Fleming , George Hurst , Barbara Pentland and others.

In 1948 Sumberg founded the Toronto Woman's Orchestra and the Canadian Little Symphony , which he led until 1956. He was also second concertmaster of the CBC Symphony Orchestra from 1952 to 1964 and of the York Concert Society , directed by Heinz Unger , from 1952 to 1965 .

In 1961 he returned to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra , to which he was a member until 1975. From 1963 he taught violin and viola at the YMHA Music School (later Koffler Center of the Arts Music School ), whose director he became in 1973. As a juror he was involved in the Canadian Open Old Time Fiddlers' Contest for almost thirty years from 1955 . In 1983 he was honored with a lifetime membership in the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto .

source

• Harold Sumberg ( English, French ) In: Encyclopedia of Music in Canada . published by The Canadian Encyclopedia .