40 Facts About Jacques Singer

Jacques Singer was an American virtuoso violinist, symphony orchestra conductor, and music educator who flourished from about 1925 until a few months before his death in 1980.

Jacques Singer trained in the violin from an early age.

Jacques Singer began to give concerts in Poland at age seven.

In 1923, Jacques Singer became a scholarship violin student of Leopold Auer and his associate, Jacob Mestechkin.

Jacques Singer made his American debut in New York the evening of February 11,1925 at Town Hall performing Bach's G-minor Fugue; then with pianist Siegfried Schultze, Paganini's D major concerto; then with Schultze and violinist Jacob Mestechkin, Christian Sinding's Serenade for two violins and piano.

Jacques Singer began attending the Juilliard School in 1927, studying with Leopold Auer, Paul Kochanski, and Rubin Goldmark.

Jacques Singer was a violinist with the Juilliard Graduate School String Orchestra; Albert Stoessel was the conductor.

In 1936, Jacques Singer reorganized and began conducting the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra.

The orchestra had been founded in 1934 by Stokowski and, before Jacques Singer, was conducted by Sylvan Levin.

Jacques Singer became angry enough to print handbills and make speeches defending himself during concert intermissions.

Jacques Singer saw active service and received three battle stars for New Guinea, Bataan, and Corregidor.

Jacques Singer conducted army band concerts, including the first concert given after the liberation of Corregidor.

Jacques Singer was the initiator and music director of the Symposium.

American composer David Diamond's Violin Concerto No 2 was premiered on February 29,1948, by Dorotha Powers, with Jacques Singer conducting the VSO.

Jacques Singer next founded a rival orchestra, the British Columbia Philharmonic.

In 1952, Jacques Singer guest-conducted the Israel Philharmonic, the Jerusalem Radio Orchestra, and the Haifa Symphony.

Nine years after its founding, Jacques Singer became the conductor, conducting his first concert on October 18,1954.

On March 25,1956, Jacques Singer guest-conducted the closing season concert of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, to critical acclaim.

On January 26,1958, Jacques Singer guest conducted the Havana Philharmonic Orchestra, performing Paul Csonka's Violin Concerto No 2.

The orchestra, with Jacques Singer conducting, performed Sibelius' Symphony No 1 and works by Chausson.

In 1961, Jacques Singer spent a month with the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, culminating in 4 concerts, the first on April 29.

Jacques Singer had signed on with Corpus Christi for an additional three years when he was hired as the permanent conductor and music director of the Oregon Symphony in April 1962.

Early in his tenure, Jacques Singer requested the concertmaster's violin to demonstrate a passage.

Jacques Singer proved to be a temperamental conductor there as recounted by a violinist in The Oregonian.

In rehearsal one day, Jacques Singer told the tubaist John Richards, "I can't hear you".

Richards was getting angry by now, but Jacques Singer chose this moment to tie a white handkerchief onto his baton with which he waved a flag of surrender.

Jacques Singer, throughout his career, was an exponent of new music from established and emerging composers, which, in programming, he had to carefully balance, particularly with orchestras whose benefactors and patrons yearned for the classics.

Jacques Singer ultimately left the orchestra he had built, over a controversy that divided the organization.

The upshot of Jacques Singer's exit related to disagreements over artistic freedom and a rift with some of the musicians.

On September 24,1962, before starting as Artistic Director of the Oregon Symphony, Jacques Singer made his London debut conducting the London Philharmonic at Royal Festival Hall, which included guest pianist Rudolf Firkusny.

On January 11,1972, Jacques Singer conducted the Honolulu Symphony featuring pianist John Browning.

In early June 1972, Jacques Singer conducted the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, to critical acclaim, featuring works of Beethoven, Prokofiev, and Rachmaninoff.

Jacques Singer became an artist in residence at Northern Illinois University, and from 1977 until shortly before his death in 1980, he conducted the Northern Illinois University Philharmonic.

In 1974, Jacques Singer guest-conducted the Cosmopolitan Symphony, a New York City youth orchestra founded in 1963.

Jacques Singer enjoyed encouraging young artists, and delighted in guest conducting rehearsals or concerts of the New York conservatories, which included those of Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music, as well as high school musicians, which included his daughter Lori.

Jacques Singer died August 11,1980, at his home in Manhattan, New York, aged 70.

Jakob Jacques Singer was one of three children born to Meyer Jacques Singer and Rachella Bach.

Jacques Singer became a naturalized citizen sometime between 1920 and 1930 in Philadelphia.

Sidney Foster and Bronja Jacques Singer both graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music on May 17,1938, with Diplomas in Piano.

Jacques Singer was adopted and raised by Nobert Dave Singer was born on 1929 and and Grace L Sinden, who were married to each other between 1954 and 1977.