Karel Ondříček (1 January 1865, in Prague- HradčanyRegister of births and baptisms, Prague-Hradcany
''amp.bach.cz'', accessed 21 May 2018 – 30 March 1943, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.) was a Czech violin

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

Life

Like his older brother

František Ondříček František Ondříček (29 April 1857 – 12 April 1922) was a Czech violinist and composer. He gave the first performance of the Violin Concerto by Antonín Dvořák, and his achievements were recognised by the rare award of honorary memb ...

, Karel, sometimes known as "Karl", received his basic musical education from his father, Jan Ondříček, who was a violinist and conductor, and had studied music theory with

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

. Later he was educated privately under

Antonín Bennewitz Antonín Bennewitz (also Anton Bennewitz; 26 March 1833 – 29 May 1926) was a Bohemian violinist, conductor and teacher. He was in a line of violinists that extended back to Giovanni Battista Viotti, and forward to Jan Kubelík and Wolfgang Schne ...

and at the Prague Conservatory. However, he did not finish his course at the Conservatory. For a brief period he played in his father's orchestra. He became a military band conductor, performed as a solo violinist in chamber ensembles, and taught music. Among his pupils was Jan Kubelík. He was involved in premiere performances of several pieces by Antonin Dvořák, including the String Quartet No. 1, the Terzetto in C, the 'Cypresses' for string quartet, and the Romantic Pieces. From 1887-93, he was Concertmaster of the National Theatre in Prague. In 1893 he received an offer from

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, which he accepted. He performed at the World's Fair in Chicago and became Concertmaster of the

Symphony 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, ce ...

of the Music-Hall in Boston. He played second violin in the

Kneisel Quartet The Kneisel Quartet was a string quartet founded in 1885 by violinist Franz Kneisel, then concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It continued to perform until 1917, and was generally considered the leading string quartet of its time in t ...

from 1899-1902, and about 1910 led his own musical trio.(Czech) National album page memoir Biography of the violinist Karel Ondříček
''kramerius.nkp.cz''; accessed 10 February 2018.

References

Literature

* Czechoslovak musical dictionary of individuals and institutions II. (M-Ž), 1965, State Music Publishing, Prague, p. 224

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ondricek, Karel 1865 births 1943 deaths American classical violinists Musicians from Prague Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States American people of Czech descent Concertmasters Musicians from Austria-Hungary Prague Conservatory alumni