Nicholas Goldschmidt, (December 6, 1908 – February 8, 2004) was a Canadian conductor, administrator, teacher, performer, music festival entrepreneur and artistic director. He was the grand-nephew of famed composer Adalbert von Goldschmidt (1848-1906). In 1937, Goldschmidt immigrated to the US, where he served as director of opera at the San Francisco Conservatory and Stanford University from 1938 to 1942. He was director of the opera department at Columbia University from 1942 to 1944. He subsequently moved to Toronto, where he served as the first music director of the Royal Conservatory Opera School (University of Toronto Opera Division) from 1946 to 1957. In 1950, Goldschmidt,

Arnold Walter Arnold Maria Walter, OC (August 30, 1902 – October 6, 1973) was a Canadian musicologist, educator, composer and writer. He founded the Canadian Opera Company, and was Director of Music at University of Toronto. Early years Arnold Maria Walter wa ...

and Herman Geiger-Torel helped to found the Royal Conservatory Opera Company, which later became the

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Cent ...

. From 1949 to 1957, Goldschmidt was the first music director of the CBC Opera. In 1978, Goldschmidt was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

, and was promoted to Companion in 1989. In 1997, Goldschmidt received the

Governor General's Performing Arts Award A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts. Goldschmidt married Shelagh Fraser on 26 June 1948.Setterfield, Gwenlyn, ''Niki Goldschmidt: A Life in Canadian Music''. University of Toronto Press, p. 67 (), 2003.

References

External links

Canadian Encyclopedia Biography

CBC Digital Archives, "Remembering Nicholas Goldschmidt"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldschmidt, Nicholas 1908 births 2004 deaths People from Znojmo District People from the Margraviate of Moravia Male conductors (music) Companions of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Musicians from Toronto Governor General's Performing Arts Award winners 20th-century Canadian conductors (music) 20th-century Canadian male musicians Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States American emigrants to Canada