Hyman Schandler (August 11, 1900 – September 3, 1990) was a

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 ...

ist,

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, and conductor. He was the founder and conductor of the Cleveland Women's Orchestra, the oldest women's orchestra in the world.

Early life

Schandler was born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, Latvia. He emigrated to

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

at the age of three with his mother and three sisters. His father, a tailor, had arrived two years earlier. At the age of nine, Schandler began his studies at Bailey's Music School, which later became the Cleveland Music School Settlement. He went to Central High School and West High School. At the age of 18, Schandler began conducting instrumental groups and teaching the violin at the settlement.1984 Special Citation for Distinguished Service to the Arts
Cleveland Arts Prize

Career

In 1927, Schandler auditioned for conductor

Nikolai Sokoloff Nikolai Grigoryevich Sokoloff (28 May 1886 – 25 September 1965) was a Russian-American conductor and violinist. Biography He was born in Kiev, and studied music at Yale. From 1916 to 1917 he was musical director of the San Francisco ...

of the Cleveland Orchestra and became second violinist. He soon became principal second violinist, a position he held for 35 years. He performed with the orchestra for 48 years. In 1931, Schandler traveled to Salzburg, Austria, to study violin with Theodore Mueller and conducting with Herbert von Karajan. There, he performed with the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

Orchestra and Salzburg Mozarteum."Hyman Schandler, Founder of the Cleveland Women's Orchestra"
, The Cleveland Women's Orchestra In 1935, Schandler formed the Cleveland Women's Orchestra, an orchestra composed primarily of 60 women musicians, ranging from sixteen to seventy-five years old. Their first concert was on November 17, 1936, at

Severance Hall Severance Hall is a concert hall located in the University Circle section of Cleveland, Ohio. Opened in 1931, Severance Hall was named after patrons John L. Severance and his wife, Elisabeth Huntingdon DeWitt Severance, and serves as the hom ...

."Women's Orchestra was outlet for talented players"
by Henry J. Gomez, ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

'' (March 12, 2011) Since then, the orchestra has played annual concerts at Severance Hall as well as several concerts in nursing homes, hospitals, and other outreach programs. Schandler remained as the orchestra's conductor for 55 years until his death in 1990. He was succeeded by Robert Cronquist as musical director. Following his retirement in 1975, Schandler played for two seasons in the

Dallas Symphony Orchestra The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas. History The orchestra traces its origins to a ...

as principal guest conductor, which was then led by

Louis Lane Louis Gardner Lane (December 25, 1923 – February 15, 2016) was an American conductor. He was born in Eagle Pass, Texas. He studied composition with Kent Kennan at the University of Texas at Austin where he earned his bachelor's in music degree i ...

. During this time, he commuted back to Cleveland to continue conducting the Cleveland Women's Orchestra.

Personal life

In 1926, Schandler married Rebecca White, a pianist and faculty colleague. Their ceremony was performed at the Cleveland Music School Settlement. They had two daughters, Dorothy and Linda.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schandler, Hyman American male violinists American male conductors (music) 1900 births 1990 deaths Musicians from Cleveland 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American violinists Classical musicians from Ohio 20th-century American male musicians