Harley Hamilton (March 8, 1861May 14, 1933) was an American conductor,

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 regu ...

ist and composer. He was the founder and first conductor of the LA Women's Orchestra in 1893 and of the LA Symphony in 1897. Hamilton was one of the first symphony American directors in those years, when most conductors were born and trained abroad. Hamilton was born in 1861 in Kenwood, New York, to Susan C. Williams and Henry W. Burnham. He was a member of the

Oneida Community The Oneida Community was a perfectionist religious communal society founded by John Humphrey Noyes and his followers in 1848 near Oneida, New York. The community believed that Jesus had already returned in AD 70, making it possible for the ...

in New York, which his parents joined in 1848, until the Community dissolved in 1881. Shortly before his mother's death, he was adopted by Erastus Hapgood Hamilton (a leading Community member and architect of the

Oneida Community Mansion House The Oneida Community Mansion House is a historic house and museum that was once the home of the Oneida Community, a religiously-based socialist Utopian group led by John Humphrey Noyes. Noyes and his followers moved to the site in Oneida from Putne ...

; now
Museum
, from whom he took his name. He was trained as a violinist and conductor (by Oneida Community member and bandleader Charles Joslyn). He worked as a printer and it is believed that his stepfather sent him to study 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 ...

, where he graduated. In 1881, when the Community dissolved, he started traveling as a member of a minstrel group arriving in Los Angeles in 1883. He worked in Los Angeles both as a printer and musician, with several experiences as director and a member of choirs, bands and orchestras. He worked with both amateur and professional orchestras. Hamilton formed the LA Women's Orchestra in 1893 and the LA Symphony in 1897. Both became quite popular and contributed to the development of symphonic music in the Los Angeles area. He resigned from both in 1913, probably due to advancing deafness. He died of apoplexy (stroke) in 1933. He is buried at the

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angel ...

in Hollywood, California
Find A Grave Reference
.

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1861 births 1933 deaths American male violinists American classical violinists American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) 19th-century conductors (music) New York College of Music alumni Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery 19th-century American musicians Male classical violinists {{US-composer-19thC-stub