Ferdinand Sorenson (1882–1966) was a prominent music educator in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

as well as a conductor,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, dance instructor and performer. Originally from Grenaa (Djursland),

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, Sorenson came to the United States as an infant with his parents, Lars and Matilda Sorenson. Sorenson's music education began with his father, Lars, when he was five years old. At an early age Sorenson played the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and brass instruments to join in family and community

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

s. When Sorenson went to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

in 1898, he continued his violin studies with Willard Weihe. In Salt Lake City, Sorenson played in his first

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

orchestras and met his friend and mentor in

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

and

dancing Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

Mose Christensen Moses "Mose" Christensen (February 12, 1871 – October 30, 1920) was an American musician, and founder and conductor of the Oregon Symphony (then known as the Portland Symphony Orchestra). Biography Mose was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. His fat ...

. In 1905, Mose Christensen and his group of musicians in Boise, Idaho helped Sorenson collect enough money to travel to New York, where he studied

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

with the William Ebann at the

New York College of Music The New York College of Music was an American conservatory of music located in Manhattan that flourished from 1878 to 1968. The college was incorporated under the laws of New York and was empowered to confer diplomas and degrees ranging from a Bac ...

. In

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Sorenson played the cello in the orchestra of

Walter Damrosch Walter Johannes Damrosch (January 30, 1862December 22, 1950) was a German-born American conductor and composer. He was the director of the New York Symphony Orchestra and conducted the world premiere performances of various works, including Ge ...

and in shows starring

David Warfield David Warfield (November 28, 1866 – June 27, 1951) was an American stage actor. Life and career Warfield was born David Wohlfeld in San Francisco, California, to German-Jewish parents, Louise and Sigmund Wohlfeld. His first connection wit ...

and silent film star

Alla Nazimova Alla Nazimova (Russian: Алла Назимова; born Marem-Ides Leventon, Russian: Марем-Идес Левентон; June 3 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._May_22.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>O ...

. When he returned to the West, Sorenson played briefly in the Boise Symphony Orchestra (1908) under Mose Christensen's direction and was briefly principal cellist in the

Portland Symphony Orchestra The Portland Symphony Orchestra was established in 1923 in Portland, Maine as the Amateur Strand Symphony Orchestra. Started by a small group of musicians who had sent out invitations to join their organization to people in the area, they had their ...

under David Rosebrook (1909). Sorenson married in 1909 and moved to

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

in 1910. Sorenson taught music, dancing and conducted a

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

orchestra in Spokane. Besides playing in the

Spokane Symphony The Spokane Symphony is a 70-piece professional orchestra based in Spokane, WA that performs more than 65 concerts per year for more than 150,000 listeners. It was originally incorporated in 1945 as the Spokane Philharmonic before being renamed ...

he also played in the Gesner-Sorenson String Quartet, the Gottfried Herbst String Quartet, the Spokane Citizen's Band and the Chuck Whitehead Orchestra. In 1919, Chuck Whitehead built his own dance hall in Spokane, the Whitehead Dancing Palace, where Sorenson started his dancing school after having graduated from Mose Christensen's dance school in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. Sorenson moved back to Portland in 1924. In Portland, Sorenson began playing in the Portland Symphony again when

Willem van Hoogstraten Willem van Hoogstraten (March 18, 1884 – September 11, 1965) was a Dutch violinist and conductor. Van Hoogstraten was born in Utrecht, and studied the violin from age eight including studies with Alexander Schmuller, and enrolled at the conserva ...

began as conductor of the orchestra. Other groups he played in were the Ashley Cook Band, the McDougall Concert Band, the Ted Bacon String Orchestra, Kelly's Restaurant Orchestra and the Gershkovitch Symphony Orchestra. He also played in the

KGW KGW (channel 8) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Jefferson Street in southwestern Portland, and its transmitter is located in the city' ...

, KOIN and other

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

orchestras over the years. Sorenson also conducted the Sorenson Concert Orchestra and the Inter-Community Orchestra in Longview, Washington. With Sorenson's numerous

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

and brass students and extensive teaching experience he was able to assist Mary Dodge,

Jacques Gershkovitch Jacques Gershkovitch (1884–1953) was a Russian conductor and musician who became the first music director of the Portland Junior Symphony (now known as the Portland Youth Philharmonic), the first youth orchestra in the United States, based in ...

and others in developing the Portland Junior Symphony. Besides his private students, Sorenson taught over the years as an adjunct professor at Pacific University, Lewis and Clark College, Portland State College (now

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

), and the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. He conducted the student orchestra at Marylhurst University and the student band at Pacific University. Sorenson was still teaching privately and at Portland State College when he died in December 1966 at the age of 84.

References

*Goodrich, Frederick; ''Nearly 70 Years of Orchestral Music'' *Jacobson, Gwendolyn (ed.); ''Memories of Little Denmark'' *Sowells, Debra; ''The Christensen Brothers, An American dance epic'' *Warnock, Irvin (ed.); ''Thru the Years, A History of Sevier County'' *Assorted Spokane, Washington and Portland, Oregon newspapers. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sorenson, Ferdinand 1882 births 1966 deaths American music educators Marylhurst University Educators from Oregon American male conductors (music) Musicians from Portland, Oregon American people of Danish descent People from Norddjurs Municipality New York College of Music alumni Lewis & Clark College faculty 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians