Ronald A. Wilford

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Ronald A. [ndrew] Wilford (born November 4, 1927 in Salt Lake City - † June 13, 2015 ) was an American music and arts manager .

Life

Wilford was born to a Mormon mother and a Greek Orthodox father in Utah, where he spent a humble childhood.

As a young manager, he drew attention to himself in 1955 when he brokered the French pantomime Marcel Marceau in the USA. He later became one of the most important artist managers of the 20th century.

The artists represented by Wilford included conductors Claudio Abbado , Herbert von Karajan , James Levine , Alain Lombard , Kurt Masur , Riccardo Muti , Seiji Ozawa and Colin Davis. He also represented the violinists Yehudi Menuhin and Anne-Sophie Mutter , the cellist Mstislaw Rostropowitsch , the opera singers Karan Armstrong , Kathleen Battle , Grace Bumbry , Marilyn Horne , Frederica von Stade and Samuel Ramey as well as the director Götz Friedrich .

From 1970 to 2000 Wilford was President of Columbia Artists Management Inc. , after which he was Chairman and CEO of the company until his death.

Private life

Wilford was married three times. He had two children from his first two marriages. His third wife was a granddaughter of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt , Sara Wilford, nee Sara Delano Roosevelt Whitney.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Stephen Rubin: Ronald Wilford: Muscle Man Behind the Maestros The New York Times , July 25, 1971.