Jacques Singer

Jakob Singer was born in Przemyśl, Austria-Hungary (present-day Poland). He trained in the violin from an early age. He began to give concerts in Poland at age seven. In 1920, his family moved to the United States, settling in Jersey City.[4] Before making any sort of official American debut, Singer, as a teenager, had been playing recitals, in one case, at a Columbia University student social gathering at Earl Hall.[6]

In 1923, Singer became a scholarship violin student of Leopold Auer and his associate, Jacob Mestechkin (1880–1953).[lower-roman 1][lower-roman 2] He made his American debut in New York the evening of February 11, 1925 at Town Hall performing (in solo) Bach's G-minor Fugue;[lower-alpha 1] then with pianist Siegfried Schultze, Paganini's D major concerto; then with Schultze and violinist Jacob Mestechkin (his teacher), Christian Sinding's Serenade for two violins and piano.[lower-roman 3][lower-roman 4]

Singer attended the Curtis Institute of Music on a scholarship in 1926[lower-roman 5] – in the third year after the institute was founded. While there, he studied with Carl Flesch. Curtis did not issue diplomas during its first ten years. Singer was in The Students' Orchestra for Curtis' 1926–1927 season. Leopold Stokowski was conductor.[7]

Singer began attending the Juilliard School in 1927, studying with Leopold Auer, Paul Kochanski, and Rubin Goldmark. Singer was also a violinist with the Juilliard Graduate School String Orchestra; Albert Stoessel was the conductor.[lower-roman 6] Singer graduated from Juilliard in 1930.

While at Juilliard, Singer became a violinist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age eighteen, their youngest member at the time. Leopold Stokowski took an interest in him and requested he conduct a contemporary piece at one of the rehearsals in 1935.[lower-roman 7][lower-roman 8]

From watching Stokowski, he picked up several of the maestro's practices: conducting without baton (or score at times), making instructional comments to an audience, and stopping performances during disturbances. These he employed as conductor of the orchestra's youth orchestra in 1936.[8]

In 1936, Singer reorganized and began conducting the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. The orchestra had been founded in 1934 by Stokowski and, before Singer, was conducted by Sylvan Levin. The orchestra, at that time, was composed of musicians from ages 13 to 25.[lower-roman 9]

With a recommendation from Stokowski,[lower-roman 10] Singer made his conducting debut with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on February 1, 1938. He remained with that orchestra until 1942. Audience reaction to his style and personality was positive, the symphony budget doubled, and subscriptions tripled. While there, as reported by Time magazine, Singer became engaged in a feud with critic John ("Rosy") Rosenfield (born Max John Rosenfield Jr.; 1900–1966) of The Dallas Morning News.[9][10]

Rosenfield lauded Singer early on, but soon turned against him. Singer became angry enough to print handbills and make speeches defending himself during concert intermissions.[9]

In spring 1951, Rosenfield published an article in the Southwest Review refuting that a feud transpired, or, rather, that Time's depiction of his criticism was, on balance, overblown, considering the critical acclaim on Singer that he published in The Dallas Morning News.[10]

By the 1942–43 season, most of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's musicians were enlisted in the armed services.[lower-roman 11]

During World War II Singer served as a private in the U.S. Army. He saw active service and received three battle stars for New Guinea, Bataan, and Corregidor. He conducted army band concerts, including the first concert given after the liberation of Corregidor.[lower-roman 12][11]

In 1946, he conducted 28 concerts in eight weeks for the summer New Orleans Pops Concerts.[lower-roman 13]

A guest conducting engagement with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra led to his appointment as a conductor of that orchestra from 1947 to 1951. Singer, an advocate of contemporary music[lower-roman 14] by established and emerging composers has been chronicled favorably by musicologists for programing works, including a March 1948 performance by the VSO of Walter Piston's Prelude and Fugue for Orchestra, commissioned in 1934 by the League of Composers.[12]

The First Symposium of Canadian Contemporary Music was held in Vancouver March 12–15, 1950, at the Hotel Vancouver and the Denman Auditorium under the sponsorship of the Vancouver Symphony Society and the Community Arts Council of Vancouver. Singer was the initiator and music director of the Symposium. Alec Walton was chairman of the symposium. The event featured four days of performances of works by 33 Canadian composers, including:

The Symposium concluded with a panel discussion on Canadian music moderated by Alec Walton, a young banker and brother of composer William Walton. The panelist included Singer, Barbara Pentland, Eugène Lapierre, Dorothy Cadzow (1916–2001), Charles O'Neill, Zilba Georgieva (soprano), John Weinzweig, and Harry Adaskin.[13][lower-roman 15][14][15][16] Attended by 1,500, the Symposium was the only venture of its kind on record for Canada and stood as the largest festival of Canadian music until Expo '67.[lower-roman 16]

There are differing explations for Singer's departure from the VSO – one being that he resigned from the symphony over a disagreement with the board over the $19,000 budget deficit (the board wanted a shortened season). Another explanation, offered by musicologist Elaine Keillor, was that the VSO fired Singer over circumstances directly linked to his promotion of contemporary music.[17]

American composer David Diamond's Violin Concerto No. 2 was premiered on February 29, 1948, by Dorotha Powers, with Singer conducting the VSO. Difficulties with the estate of Arthur W. Percival, Dorotha Powers' husband, prevented further performances of the work for the next 43 years – until May 6, 1991 – when Gerard Schwarz arranged for its second performance, billed as a U.S. première. Percival commissioned the work for his wife through an arrangement with conductor Artur Rodzinski.

On November 27, 1948, Singer, conducting the VSO, premiered Wallingford Riegger's "Evocation."[18]

Singer next founded a rival orchestra, the British Columbia Philharmonic.[8][19][20][21] At the first concert, Victoria Symphony Orchestra's conductor Hans Gruber called the orchestra unprepared and the chorus incompetent, referring to a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.[lower-roman 17]

On Broadway, from December 19, 1951, through April 13, 1952, at the old Ziegfeld Theatre, Singer conducted a production of two Cleopatras, consisting of two plays presented with live music on alternating nights for 133 performances; the first for 67 performances – George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra; and the second for 66 performances – Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.[22][lower-roman 18][lower-roman 19] Both plays starred Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier. The music was composed by Herbert Menges. Igor Stravinsky, who reportedly attended on opening night, remarked that the pit orchestra sounded like a symphony.[lower-roman 20][23]

In 1952, Singer guest-conducted the Israel Philharmonic, the Jerusalem Radio Orchestra, and the Haifa Symphony (he). This included the first concert in Nazareth for the Haifa Symphony.[lower-roman 21][lower-roman 22]

The Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra was established in 1945 by C. Burdette "Bud" Wolfe (1904–1974), who became its first conductor; Rabbi Sidney Abraham Wolf (1906–1983); and six others. Nine years after its founding, Singer became the conductor, conducting his first concert on October 18, 1954.[lower-roman 23] As a marker for the scope of the CCSO, its 1956–1957 budget was $53,000.[lower-roman 24] Singer served as conductor there from 1954 to 1962.[lower-roman 18]

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

On January 26, 1958, Singer guest conducted the Havana Philharmonic Orchestra (ru) (Orquesta Filarmónica de la Habana), performing Paul Csonka's Violin Concerto No. 2. The violin soloist, Ángel Reyes, was, at the time, on the faculty at the Northwestern University School of Music. The orchestra, with Singer conducting, also performed Sibelius' Symphony No. 1 and works by Chausson.

Beginning around April 1958, Singer, as visiting conductor, led the Buenos Aires Philharmonic at the Colon Theater in Argentina. Reviews of a concert on June 22, 1958, by two Buenos Aires newspapers, Democracia and La Prensa lauded Singer's artistic accomplishments (after working two months with the orchestra). One critic referred to Singer as a miracle worker.[lower-roman 26][lower-roman 27][lower-roman 28]

In 1961, Singer spent a month with the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, culminating in 4 concerts, the first on April 29. The concerts received critical acclaim.[lower-roman 29]

Singer debuted with the Oregon Symphony – then the Portland Symphony Orchestra – as a guest conductor in February 1962. Critics gave Singer favorable reviews. Martin Clark (born Martin Hooper Clark; 1920–1983) of the Oregon Journal, wrote, "Never has the orchestra been more responsive to a baton."[lower-roman 30][lower-roman 31][lower-roman 32]

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.[lower-roman 33] He served there from 1962 to 1972. In his first season (1962–63), the orchestra performed 47 weeks of concerts – the second most by an orchestra of its size in the United States. Singer changed the scope of the orchestra. Specifically, under Singer, the musicians secured full-time contracts, the orchestra began a series of tours throughout the state of Oregon, and in 1967, the name changed from the Portland Symphany Orchestra to the Oregon Symphony Orchestra.[8]

Early in his tenure, Singer requested the concertmaster's violin to demonstrate a passage. Tubaist John Richards (né John Keil Richards; 1918–2011)[lower-roman 18] recounted the incident: "He tucked it under his chin and played four or five bars to show what he wanted. The rest of the string section sat openmouthed at how well he could play."[8]

Singer proved to be a temperamental conductor there as recounted by a violinist in The Oregonian. In rehearsal one day, Singer told the tubaist John Richards, "I can't hear you". On the next run-through, Richards blasted the note louder. "Still can't hear you", said Singer. The next time, Richards blew the tuba with both lungs. "I still can't hear you", said Singer. Richards was getting angry by now, but Singer chose this moment to tie a white handkerchief onto his baton with which he waved a flag of surrender.[lower-roman 34]

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. Singer, with the Oregon Symphony, performed many contemporary works that won favorable reviews, including a 1969 performance of Paul Creston's tone poem, Corinthians XIII, Op. 82, composed in 1963.[24]

It is difficult, even with the best verbalization of the composer's concept, to persuade a listener to recognize and respond to such expressed thoughts. But here is a case in which, without any extraneous suggestion, one has come upon an orchestral work of remarkable beauty. Corinthians XIII is melodically rich, rhythmically intensive, fluid and engrossing in its instrumental movement, fascinating in its counter themes and harmonic diversity.

— Hilmar Birger Grondahl, The Oregonian, 1969[lower-roman 35]

Singer ultimately left the orchestra he had built, over a controversy that divided the organization. His attempt to bring in a new concertmaster led to a stand-off between the union and the artistic freedom of a conductor. The concertmaster that Singer wanted replaced – Hugh Winchester Ewart (1924–2017), who had held the position since 1950 – was, in 1973, pressured to surrender his chair, and he declined a demotion offer to become associate concertmaster. Soon thereafter, still in 1973, a new concertmaster, Michael Foxman, was appointed. The upshot of Singer's exit related to disagreements over artistic freedom and a rift with some of the musicians. Singer believed in artistry over rules and regulations. Quality, reportedly, ruled his artistic domain.[lower-roman 36][lower-roman 37] His contract with the Oregon Symphony extended through April 1973, though he did not conduct during the 1972–73 season.[lower-roman 38]

On September 24, 1962, before starting as Artistic Director of the Oregon Symphony, Singer made his London debut conducting the London Philharmonic at Royal Festival Hall, which included guest pianist Rudolf Firkušný. The performance won Singer and Firkušný eight curtain calls and a music critic from London's Daily Telegraph declared it a "personal triumph" for Singer.[lower-roman 39]

On December 8, 1964, Singer flew from Portland to New York to conduct members of American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center's Philharmic Hall in a program that featured violinist Ruggiero Ricci performing his third of four concerts in a span of 30 days under a different conductor each time, showcasing great masterpieces of violin concerto repertoire – 15 concertos in all:[lower-roman 40][lower-roman 41]

Ricci, November 8 and 9, 1965, reunited with Singer in Portland, with the Oregon Symphony, and performed the Paganini, Stravinsky, and Brahms concertos.[lower-roman 42]

On April 17, 1970, Singer debuted with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall as guest conductor of a program that included a London debut of a piano concerto by Richard Yardumian, performed by Jeffrey Siegel.[lower-roman 43]

On January 11, 1972, Singer conducted the Honolulu Symphony featuring pianist John Browning. In early June 1972, Singer conducted the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, to critical acclaim, featuring works of Beethoven, Prokofiev, and Rachmaninoff (Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Giuseppe La Licata at the piano).[lower-roman 44] The concert was broadcast countrywide.[lower-roman 44]

On June 18, 1972, and again on January 18 & 21, 1973, he guest-conducted the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra. The June 18 concert included the Venezuela premier of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 12.[lower-roman 45]

Singer moved to New York. During that time, part-time and only seasonally, he conducted the Naumburg Orchestra for six summer seasons (1974–79) in Central Park at the Naumburg Band Shell, adjacent to Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street.

The Naumburg concert series, supported by the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation, during Singer's years, corresponded to seasons 69 through 74 – Elkan Naumburg founded the series in 1905.[lower-roman 46][26][lower-roman 47] The Naumburg Band Shell, currently (as of 2023), has endured for one hundred years.

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. Singer's wife, Leslie, an accomplished pianist, left the Juilliard staff 1978 to take over the piano classes of Reynolds Whitney (1919–1978), a member of the NIU music faculty since 1948 who died January 2, 1978.[lower-roman 48][lower-roman 49]

In 1974, Jacques Singer guest-conducted the Cosmopolitan Symphony, a New York City youth orchestra founded in 1963.[lower-roman 50] He 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.[8]

Jacques Singer died August 11, 1980, at his home in Manhattan, New York, aged 70.[27]