Frank Damrosch
Frank Damrosch was born in Breslau, June 22,
1859. He came to America with his father, Dr. Leopold Damrosch, in 1871, having
already studied music under Purchner and Vogt. He studied in New York under von
Inten and his father. He also studied in Europe under Moszkowski.
He originally intended to adopt a business
career, and to that end went to Denver, Colorado, but the musical impulse proved
too strong, and in 1884 he was an organist, conductor of the Denver Chorus Club,
and supervisor of music in the public schools.
For some years he was chorusmaster at the
Metropolitan Opera House in New York. He has also conducted the Mendelssohn Glee
Club from 1885 to 1887 and other important organizations. In 1892 he organized
the People's Singing Classes, which has since developed into the People's Choral
Union, with a membership of 1200, and he was also instrumental in founding the
Musical Art Society of New York.
In 1897 he became supervisor of music in the
public schools in New York. As director of the New York Institute of Musical
Art, Frank Damrosch has firmly established his right to be considered among the
foremost musical educators in America, even if his work in other directions had
not already won him that distinction. This institution is one of the richest of
its kind in the world, and, together with other American music schools, has done
much to give American students as fine musical opportunities as may be obtained
anywhere.
