Julius Hegyi (February 2, 1923 – January 1, 2007) was an American conductor and violinist. He spent his lifetime building orchestras, founding chamber music groups and instilling a passion for music in young and old alike. His belief in

contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...

, especially American music, as conductor, violinist and mentor, brought compelling listening experiences to his audiences. Hegyi was well known for his expert grasp of European repertoire, routinely giving commanding performances of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

and

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

, for example.

Background

Hegyi was an active proponent of American music, with concerts devoted to world premieres of many composers. He performed works by contemporary European and Chinese composers, as well. * Performed first concert on 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 ...

, age 10 * Attended

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...

, NYC, 1941 * Graduate,

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 elit ...

, NYC, studying violin with

Sascha Jacobsen Sascha Jacobsen (11 December .S. 29 November1895 - 19 March 1972) was an American violinist and teacher born in Russia, now Finland.In his book "Great Masters of the Violin", Boris Schwarz claims that Jacobsen was born in New York in 1897 and that ...

and Edouard Dethier; graduating with high honors; recipient of the Frank Damrosch Memorial Scholarship. * The Town Hall, NYC, recitals, 1945 and 1946 * Violinist: Berkshire String Quartet; New York Civic Orchestra,

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 ...

conductor; the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

; RCA Victor Symphony; Radio City Music Hall Symphony; the New York City Center Ballet Orchestra; Little Symphony Orchestra, NYC; Contemporary Music Society, Solomon Guggenheim Museum, NYC * Founder, Amati String Quartet * Studied conducting with

Dimitris Mitropoulos Dimitri Mitropoulos ( el, Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος; The dates 18 February 1896 and 1 March 1896 both appear in the literature. Many of Mitropoulos's early interviews and program notes gave 18 February. In his later interviews, howe ...

* Conductor, Southwestern Symphony Center Orchestra, 1948 * Concertmaster and associate conductor,

San Antonio Symphony The San Antonio Symphony was a full-time professional symphony orchestra based in San Antonio, Texas. Its season ran from late September to early June. Sebastian Lang-Lessing, its music director from 2010 to 2020, was the last to serve in that ca ...

, 1948 * Founder and conductor, San Antonio Little Symphony, 1948–1950 * Conductor/violinist, Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colo

Eureka Springs, AR, 1951–1956 * Music Director, Abilene Symphony Orchestra, 1952–1954 * Prize Winner, First International Competition for Conductors, Liverpool, England, 1958 * Member, American Symphony Orchestra League, 1958- * Co-founder, ''Music in The Round'', chamber music series, with Charlotte Hegyi, 1954–1985 * Conductor, Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, 1955–1965 * Founder/violinist, Hegyi Piano Trio,

Chattanooga, TN Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, 1955 to 1962, with pianist Charlotte Hegyi, and cellist Martha McCrory * Founder and First Director, Sewanee Summer Music Center, 1956–1962 * Conductor/violinist, ''Southwestern Regional Composers' Forum'',

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

, Tuscaloosa, AL, 1957–1965 * Faculty, music department,

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

, Williamstown, MA, 1965–1985 * Music Director and Conductor, Berkshire Symphony Orchestra,

Williamstown, MA Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

, 1965–1985 * Conductor, Glens Falls Opera Company, 1971 * Music Director, Principal Conductor,

Albany Symphony Orchestra The Albany Symphony Orchestra is a professional symphony orchestra based in Albany, New York. Founded in 1930 as the People's Orchestra of Albany by Italian-born conductor John Carabella, the Albany Symphony is the oldest professional symphony ...

, 1966 to 1987 * Conductor Emeritus, Albany Symphony Orchestra,

Albany, NY Albany ( ) is the State capital (United States), capital of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, also the county seat, seat and largest city of Albany County, New York, Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, abo ...

, 1987- * Guest Conductor/violinist,

(1987),

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

(1978), Wichita, KS, Charlotte, NC, Oak Ridge, TN, Troy, NY, Schenectady, NY,

Little Red School House The Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, also referred to as LREI, is a school in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by Elisabeth Irwin in 1921 as the Little Red School House and is one of the city's first progressive s ...

, NYC, Sacramento, CA,

Beijing Symphony Orchestra Beijing Symphony Orchestra (Simplified Chinese: 北京交响乐团), founded in 1977, is a symphony orchestra in based in Beijing, China. One of its best-known performances was an unfolding of Chinese history and culture performed at Badaling in t ...

and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (1985); as well as orchestras in Romania, Puerto Rico and El Salvador. * Winner, Columbia University's Alice M. Ditson Conductor's Award, 1983 for programming and sponsoring American Music * Resident Conductor, Florida Philharmonic, 1991 to 1992 * Married from 1944 - 1948 to his first wife, Elaine Shapiro. They had one child, Lee Silver born 1945, died 2001. * Married from 1949 - 1950 to his second wife, Martha Jane Bucy of Lubbock, Texas, and they were divorced in 1950. There were no children from this union. * Married from 1953 - 1992 to his third wife, Charlotte Barrier of Lubbock, Texas, and lived in Chattanooga, TN and Williamstown, MA. They had one child, Lisa Hegyi Raymond born in 1962. * Married from 1994 - 2007 to his fourth wife, Nancy King Hegyi. * Survived by widow, Nancy Hegyi, of

Fountain Hills, Arizona Fountain Hills is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Known for its impressive fountain, once the tallest in the world, it borders the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and Scottsdale. The p ...

, sister Louise Larson, daughter Lisa Hegyi Raymond, and grandchildren. * Predeceased by son, Lee Silver, of Plainfield, VT

Performances

Hegyi, in his role as conductor/violinist, performed many world premieres, such as: *Fredric Goossen, ''Litanies'', Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, 1964 *

Jacob Druckman Jacob Raphael Druckman (June 26, 1928 – May 24, 1996) was an American composer born in Philadelphia. Life A graduate of the Juilliard School in 1956, Druckman studied with Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and Bernard Wagenaar. In 1949 and 1 ...

, ''Lamia'', for soprano and orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, 1974 *Carson Kievman, ''Second Symphony, "Resurrection"'', Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, 1991 *

Charles Wuorinen Charles Peter Wuorinen (; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He performed his works and other 20th-century music as pianist and conductor. He composed more than ...

, ''Third Piano Concerto'', Albany Symphony Orchestra, soloist,

Garrick Ohlsson Garrick Olof Ohlsson (born April 3, 1948) is an American classical pianist. He is the only American to have won first prize in the International Chopin Piano Competition, at the VIII competition in 1970. He also won first prize at the Busoni Com ...

Malcolm Arnold Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music ...

, ''Eighth Symphony'', Albany Symphony Orchestra, May 1979 *

Tobias Picker Tobias Picker (born July 18, 1954) is an American composer, artistic director, and pianist, noted for his orchestral works ''Old and Lost Rivers'', ''Keys To The City'', and ''The Encantadas'', as well as his operas ''Emmeline'', ''Fantastic Mr. ...

, ''The Encantadas'', Albany Symphony Orchestra, 1983 *

Robert Starer Robert Starer (8 January 1924 in Vienna – 22 April 2001 in Kingston, New York) was an Austrian-born American composer, pianist and educator. Robert Starer began studying the piano at age 4 and continued his studies at the Vienna State Academy ...

, ''Quartet for piano, violin, viola, cello'', Music in the Round, 1977 Hegyi performed works by an extensive number of American composers, including

John Alden Carpenter John Alden Carpenter (February 28, 1876 – April 26, 1951) was an American composer. Carpenter's compositional style was considered to be mainly "mildly modernistic and impressionistic"; many of his works strive to encompass the spirit of America ...

, Henry Hadley,

Leo Sowerby Leo Salkeld Sowerby (1 May 1895 – 7 July 1968) was an American composer and church musician. He won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1946 and was often called the “Dean of American church music” in the early to mid 20th century. Biography L ...

Daniel Gregory Mason Daniel Gregory Mason (November 20, 1873 – December 4, 1953) was an American composer and music critic. Biography Mason was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He came from a long line of notable American musicians, including his father Henry Ma ...

Quincy Porter William Quincy Porter (February 7, 1897 – November 12, 1966) was an American composer and teacher of classical music. Biography Born in New Haven, Connecticut, he went to Yale University where his teachers included Horatio Parker and David St ...

Scott Lindroth Scott Allen Lindroth (born 1958) is an American composer and teacher based near Durham, North Carolina. Lindroth joined the faculty of Duke University in 1990, where he is the Vice-Provost for the Arts and the Kevin D. Gorter Associate Professo ...

George W. Chadwick George Whitefield Chadwick (November 13, 1854 – April 4, 1931) was an American composer. Along with John Knowles Paine, Horatio Parker, Amy Beach, Arthur Foote, and Edward MacDowell, he was a representative composer of what is called the Secon ...

Ezra Laderman Ezra Laderman (29 June 1924 – 28 February 2015) was an American composer of classical music. He was born in Brooklyn. Biography Laderman was of Jewish heritage. His parents, Isidor and Leah, both emigrated to the United States from Poland. Thou ...

Horatio Parker Horatio William Parker (September 15, 1863 – December 18, 1919) was an American composer, organist and teacher. He was a central figure in musical life in New Haven, Connecticut in the late 19th century, and is best remembered as the undergradu ...

Lester Trimble Lester Albert Trimble (August 29, 1923 Bangor, Wisconsin – December 31, 1986 New York City) was an American music critic and composer of contemporary classical music. Encouraged by Schoenberg, who had seen some of his scores, Trimble entered ...

, Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy,

Michael Schelle Michael Schelle (pronounced ''Shelley''), born January 22, 1950 in Philadelphia, is a composer of contemporary concert music. He is also a performer, conductor, author, and teacher. Background Schelle grew up in Bergen County, in northern New J ...

Irwin Bazelon Irwin Bazelon (June 4, 1922 in Evanston, Illinois – August 2, 1995) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Contemporary American composer Irwin Bazelon's music is known for its interesting rhythms and its emphasis on th ...

Francis Thorne Francis Thorne (June 23, 1922 – March 7, 2017) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and grandson of the writer Gustav Kobbé. Life Francis Burritt Thorne, Jr. was born in Bay Shore, New York. His father was a ragtime pianist ...

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

Robert Parris Robert Parris (21 May 1924, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – 5 December 1999, Washington, D. C.) was a composer and professor of music. He was born in Philadelphia, attended the University of Pennsylvania, then the Juilliard School in New York. Amon ...

, Sydney Hodkinson,

Leonardo Balada Leonardo Balada Ibáñez (born September 22, 1933) is a Catalan American classical composer, who is noted for his operas and orchestral works. Life Balada was born in Barcelona, Spain. After studying piano at the Conservatori Superior de Mús ...

, Carson Kievman, Frederic Goossen,

Walter Piston Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter Ha ...

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

Edward MacDowell Edward Alexander MacDowell (December 18, 1860January 23, 1908) was an American composer and pianist of the late Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites ''Woodland Sketches'', ''Sea Pieces'' and ''Ne ...

Morton Gould Morton Gould (December 10, 1913February 21, 1996) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist. Biography Morton Gould was born in Richmond Hill, New York, United States. He was recognized early as a child prodigy with abilities ...

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Proba ...

William Schuman William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910February 15, 1992) was an American composer and arts administrator. Life Schuman was born into a Jewish family in Manhattan, New York City, son of Samuel and Rachel Schuman. He was named after the 27th U.S. ...

, Robert Ward,

Wallingford Riegger Wallingford Constantine Riegger ( ; April 29, 1885 – April 2, 1961) was an American modernist composer and pianist, best known for his orchestral and modern dance music. He was born in Albany, Georgia, but spent most of his career in New York Ci ...

Quotes

Reviews

John Rockwell John Sargent Rockwell (born September 16, 1940) is an American music critic, dance critic and arts administrator. According to '' Grove Music Online'', "Rockwell brings two signal attributes to his critical work: a genuine admiration for all ...

wrote in 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 d ...

'' "...it can be flatly said that the best performance (and the most unusually interesting piece, too) was Mr. Hegyi's account of Barber's one-movement symphony, which had its premiere in 1936, was revised in 1944 and championed by Artur Rodzinski and Bruno Walter. The score blends considerable passion with Barber's wonderfully characteristic arching lyricism. Mr. Hegyi, who has a good deal of experience with 20th-century American music, given the Albany Symphony's venturesome commitment to that cause, played it with a sure technical command that never got in the way of expressivity."

Discography

Carpenter/Hadley/Mason/Porter

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.Albany Symphony Orchestra-Trimble/Laderman

Composers Recordings, Inc. Composers Recordings, Inc. (CRI) was an American record label dedicated to the recording of contemporary classical music by American composers. It was founded in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore, and Oliver Daniel, and based in New York City. ...

, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Julius Hegyi, conductor, 1985
Parker, Horatio/Chadwick, George W.
New World Records, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Julius Hegyi, conductor, 1986 * Music in the Round, Williamstown, MA, Divertimento in E flat major, W.A. Mozar

* Music in the Round, Williamstown, MA, 6 Duos for Violin and Cello, WV 50-55 (Hoffmann, Heinrich Anton

References