Israel Horowitz (September 6, 1916 – December 26, 2008) was an American

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

who became an editor and columnist on

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

at ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine. Horowitz was born 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 ...

on September 6, 1916. He attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

where he studied the violin. He was drafted in 1943 into the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, where he was an ordnance technician. His commanding officer had him write a history of his battalion after having seen the quality of his writing while censoring his mail. He remained in the Army Air Forces as a writer and historian until 1947.Kozinn, Allan
"Israel Horowitz, Record Producer and Billboard Columnist, Dies at 92"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', January 8, 2009. Accessed January 9, 2009. After leaving military service, he was hired as a reporter by ''

'' in 1948, where he first covered the coin-operated machine beat and moved on to cover music.Christman, Ed
"Industry Vet, Former Billboard Editor Israel Horowitz Dies"
''

Billboard (magazine) ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the musi ...

'', January 9, 2009. Accessed January 11, 2009. He was hired by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

in 1956. When Horowitz was hired by Decca, the label had not been producing classical music, and it was Horowitz's efforts that enabled Decca to compete with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. He served as director of classical artists and repertory from 1958 to 1971. In this role he produced recordings by organist

Virgil Fox Virgil Keel Fox (May 3, 1912 in Princeton, Illinois – October 25, 1980 in Palm Beach, Florida) was an American organist, known especially for his years as organist at Riverside Church in New York City, from 1946 to 1965, and his flamboyant "Heavy ...

, violinists

Erica Morini Erika Morini Siracusano (January 5, 1904 – October 31 or November 1, 1995) was a Jewish Austrian violinist. Early life and family Morini was born in Vienna, and received her first instruction from her father, Oscar Morini (originally spelled ...

and

Ruggiero Ricci Ruggiero Ricci (24 July 1918 – 5 August 2012) was an American violinist known for performances and recordings of the works of Niccolò Paganini, Paganini. Biography He was born in San Bruno, California, the son of Italian immigrants who first ...

, conductor

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appeara ...

New York Pro Musica New York Pro Musica was a vocal and instrumental ensemble based in New York City, which specialized in Medieval and Renaissance early music, music. It was co-founded in 1952, under the name Pro Musica Antiqua, by Noah Greenberg, a choral director, ...

and

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

ist

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987) was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were students of Segovia or their students. Segovia's contribution to the m ...

. Some of Horowitz's best known recording were the works he did with Segovia at Decca and as an independent producer. The albums they produced included

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

and

vihuela The vihuela () is a 15th-century fretted plucked Spanish string instrument, shaped like a guitar (figure-of-eight form offering strength and portability) but tuned like a lute. It was used in 15th- and 16th-century Spain as the equivalent of t ...

pieces, as well as original works written for Segovia by

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 – 16 March 1968) was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In ...

, Manuel María Ponce and

Alexandre Tansman Alexander Tansman ( pl, Aleksander Tansman, link=no, French: Alexandre Tansman; 12 June 1897 – 15 November 1986) was a Polish composer, pianist and conductor who became a naturalized French citizen in 1938. One of the earliest representatives of ...

. Segovia won the

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) was awarded from 1959 to 2011. From 1967 to 1971, and in 1987, the award was combined with the award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra) and aw ...

at the

Grammy Awards of 1959 The 1st Annual Grammy Awards were held on May 4, 1959. They recognized musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1959. Two separate ceremonies were held simultaneously on the same day; the first hotel in Beverly Hills, California, and the ...

for the ''Golden Jubilee'' album they worked on. Segovia and Horowitz also collaborated on ''The Guitar and I'', which was to include records with music on one side and autobiographical material on the other. The pair had produced the first two volumes in the planned series by 1971, when Decca ended its production of classical recordings. He returned to ''Billboard'' in 1973, serving variously as the publication's New York bureau chief, classical music editor and executive editor. After retiring from his editing responsibilities in the 1980s, he continued to write ''Keeping Score'', a weekly column covering classical music until the early 1990s. After his retirement in 1994, Timothy White, then editor-in-chief at ''Billboard'' described Horowitz as "one of the most distinguished and admired figures in the music industry, but also one of its modern architects, helping pioneer contemporary music journalism and criticism, as well as playing a consummate role as A&R executive and astute producer of some of the foremost classical artists of our era. Horowitz exemplifies the finest aspects of journalism and the arts. He was one of four survivors of American Airlines Flight 383 that crashed on approach to the

Greater Cincinnati Airport Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is a public international airport located in Hebron, Kentucky, United States. It serves the Cincinnati tri-state area. The airport's code, CVG, is derived from the nearest city at the time of ...

on November 8, 1965, with 62 people on board. Horowitz died at age 92 on December 26, 2008, at his home in

Closter, New Jersey Closter (Westergaard, Barbara"Closter: Bergen" ''New Jersey: A Guide to the State'', p. 78. Rutgers University Press, 2006. . Accessed July 22, 2011. "Known locally as the "hub of the Northern Valley," Closter (pronounced with a long ''o'') was ...

. He was survived by his wife of 62 years, Mildred Horowitz, and two sons Robert, of Manhattan, New York, and Michael, of Bern, Switzerland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horowitz, Israel 1916 births 2008 deaths American columnists American magazine editors Record producers from New York (state) Juilliard School alumni People from Closter, New Jersey 20th-century American Jews United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents Military personnel from New York City Writers from New York City 21st-century American Jews