Paul van Katwijk

Paul van Katwijk (born December 7, 1885 in Rotterdam , † December 11, 1974 in Dallas , Texas ) was an American pianist , conductor and composer of Dutch origin. He was a longtime piano professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. From 1925 to 1938 he was chief conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra .

Life

Van Katwijk was born in 1885 as the son of Johannes van Katwijk and his wife Catherina, b. Scholten, born in Rotterdam. He first received piano lessons from George Rijken in Rotterdam. From 1902 to 1904 he studied piano with Carl Oberstadt at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag . His teachers also included Laurent Angenot (violin), Henri Vollmar (theory) and Henri Viotta (ensemble, orchestra). In 1906 he did military service in the Dutch army . For three years he then learned theory and composition with Wilhelm Klatte in Berlin and piano with Leopold Godowsky in Vienna; with a scholarship he attended the master class for piano playing at the Vienna Music Academy . In 1910/11 he headed the piano department at the conservatory in Neustadt an der Hardt and then at the Helsinki Conservatory .

Before the First World War (1912) he moved to the USA; nine years later he became a US citizen . He initially worked at Christian College in Columbia, Missouri. In 1913/14 he moved to the Columbia School of Music in Chicago, Illinois. From 1914 to 1918 he was director of the piano department at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. He also conducted the local symphony orchestra from 1915 to 1918. In 1918 he went to Dallas, Texas, where he was head of the music faculty from 1919 to 1949, as well as being a piano professor at Southern Methodist University . After his retirement in 1955, he still taught students privately. From 1919 to 1922 he conducted the city choir and from 1922 to 1925 the opera. From 1925 he was chief conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra .

As a guest conductor (for example with the Kosloff Ballet) and concert pianist, he has appeared in Europe and the USA, including giving concerts a. a. with the Belgian violinist César Thomson and with symphony orchestras in Minneapolis, St. Louis, Dallas, New Orleans and Houston. He is also a composer of his own symphonic works.

Van Katwijk was married to a pianist and composer.

Awards

• 1931: Honorary Doctorate, Drake University

Lore

At the “Dolph Briscoe Center for American History” at the University of Texas in Austin there is a “Paul van Katwijk Collection”.

literature

• JTH Mize (ed.): The International Who is Who in Music . Who is Who in Music, Chicago 1951, p. 414.
• Nicolas Slonimsky , Laura Kuhn, Dennis McIntire: "Katwijk, Paul van." Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Encyclopedia.com. September 16, 2018 < http://www.encyclopedia.com >.
• Bernard HM Vlekke, Henry Beets: Hollanders Who Helped Build America . American Biographical Company, New York 1942, p. 265.

Web links

• Paul van Katwijk Collection , Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin