Maurice Zbriger (July 10, 1896, Kamenets-Podolskiy,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

– April 5, 1981,

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, Canada) was a Canadian violinist, composer and conductor. He began learning

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 ...

as a child, and continued his studies at the conservatory in

St. Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, where he was a classmate of

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-born American violinist. Born in Vilnius, he moved while still a teenager to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. He was a virtuoso since childhood. Fritz ...

Nathan Milstein Nathan Mironovich Milstein ( – December 21, 1992) was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist. Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and ...

and Mischa Elman. He left

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in 1920 and traveled throughout Europe, until he arrived in Montreal in 1924. He quickly found work there at His Majesty's Theatre, in

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

houses, and other venues. He was one of the founders of the Traymore Quartet in 1925, which later became the Traymore Salon Orchestra. He was one of the first Canadians to specialize in

Roma music Romani music (often referred to as gypsy or gipsy music, which is sometimes considered a derogatory term) is the music of the Romani people who have their origins in northern India but today live mostly in Europe. Historically nomadic, though n ...

and performed and conducted for a radio show that ran on the station CKAC for 40 years. Zbriger became a partner in, and eventually the sole owner of, the Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen. Better known as "

Schwartz's Schwartz's (French: ''Chez Schwartz''), also known as the Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen (French: ''Charcuterie Hébraïque de Montréal, Inc.''), is a Jewish delicatessen restaurant and take-out, located at 3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard in Montre ...

", this restaurant is famous for its distinctive

Montreal-style smoked meat Montreal-style smoked meat, Montreal smoked meat or simply smoked meat in Quebec (French: ''smoked-meat''; sometimes ''viande fumée'' or even ''bœuf mariné'': Literally “marinated beef”) is a type of kosher-style deli meat product made ...

. With the profits from this business, Zbriger spent many thousands of dollars organizing free concerts of his music. Zbriger was unable to pursue a career as a concert violinist because his wife was in poor health. Mrs. Zbriger was a pianist and co-composed music with Maurice, until her death after 65 years of marriage. Many of Zbriger's compositions were dedicated to famous people. He wrote ''The

Vincent Massey Charles Vincent Massey (February 20, 1887December 30, 1967) was a Canadian lawyer and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 18th since Confederation. Massey was the first governor general of Canada who was born in Canada after ...

March'' (1952) for the Canadian statesman of the same name, while "Mother's Lullaby" (1948) was dedicated to

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

upon his birth. The individuals honored by Zbriger frequently received copies of the music with letters he commissioned. In his later years, arthritis in his hands prevented Zbriger from performing publicly, though he continued to compose and conduct until his death.

Sources

* * Ianzelo, T. (Director), Courtois, D. & Symansky, A. (Producers). (1993). ''The Concert Man''. otion picture Ottawa: National Film Board of Canada

External links

Watch ''The Concert Man'' at NFB.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zbriger, Maurice 1896 births 1981 deaths Businesspeople from Montreal Canadian classical composers Canadian classical violinists Male classical violinists Male conductors (music) Canadian people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Canadian restaurateurs Jews from the Russian Empire Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish classical composers Musicians from Montreal Russian emigrants to Canada Ukrainian Jews 20th-century Canadian conductors (music) 20th-century classical composers Canadian male classical composers 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians 20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers Canadian male violinists and fiddlers