Norman Carol (born July 1, 1928) is an American violinist and former concertmaster of the

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 ...

for 29 years with conductors Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, and Wolfgang Sawallisch. Stanisław Skrowaczewski's Violin Concerto was dedicated to and premiered by Carol with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Early life and education

Carol was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Russian immigrants Anna and Max Carol. He began his violin studies with Sascha Jacobinoff at 6 years of age. Carol gave his first concert of a Mozart concerto at the age of 9. At the age of 13 he was accepted at the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship. Hi ...

where he studied under Efrem Zimbalist. In 1946 and 1947, Carol was the concertmaster of the student orchestra at Tanglewood. While at Tanglewood, he was concertmaster when

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 ...

conducted the American premiere of Benjamin Britten's '' Peter Grimes''.

Serge Koussevitzky Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevit ...

was in the audience at a different concert and heard Carol play Édouard Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole and after the concert asked if he would join the Boston Symphony in the first violin section. Carol was 17 years old at the time.

Career

Carol performed over the country billed as a child soloist. He recorded with Florence Weber on piano at age 9 in the studios of WIP-FM in Philadelphia. In May 1949, he was profiled in Time Magazine. After three years with the Boston Symphony with

and Charles Munch, Carol was drafted by the Army during the Korean war and served at the Presidio in San Francisco alongside other musicians including Andre Previn and Chet Baker in the 6th Army Band and played a solo for Arthur Fiedler and San Francisco Pops. After his discharge in 1955, Carol was hired by Alexander Hillsburg where he was the concertmaster from 1956 to 1959. Norman also maintained an active career as soloist during this time. He met his wife while stationed there, and they married in 1952. He Recorded ''A Violin Recital, Norman Carol'' on RCA Victor. Carol was hired as concertmaster of the

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Em ...

by Antal Dorati in 1958 and from 1960 until 1965 played under the baton of

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

, whose violin concerto Carol would premiere in 1985. In 1966, following the resignation of

Anshel Brusilow Anshel Brusilow (August 14, 1928 – January 15, 2018) was an American violinist, conductor, and music educator at the collegiate level. Early life and education Brusilow was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1928, the son of Ukrainian Jewish ...

, Carol joined the

by invitation of longtime conductor Eugene Ormandy to be his concertmaster. Carol remained in Philadelphia for 29 years serving as concertmaster for Ormandy, Riccardo Muti and Wolfgang Sawallisch. Following a strike, Carol's first solo performance with the orchestra was of the

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 ...

Violin Concerto, which was also the last concerto he was scheduled to perform before a lingering shoulder injury cut his orchestral career short in 1994. After a partially successful surgery three years prior, he admittedly played in pain, but kept it to himself until announcing his retirement plans at the start of the 1993–94 season. Upon his retirement, his concertmaster duties were temporarily assumed by associate concertmaster

William DePasquale William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conqu ...

, who was a first desk violinist in the orchestra from 1963 to 2005 and Carol's stand partner for nearly three decades. In 1973, Richard Nixon arranged for the orchestra to visit China. While in China, Norman conducted master classes and represented the orchestra to Madame Mao. During his tenure with the

, Carol also held a faculty appointment at his alma mater, the

, for over 40 years. After his retirement from the orchestra, Carol continued to teach and performed and recorded with a chamber music ensemble, the Philadelphia Piano Quartet, for 11 years. The quartet included Toby Blumenthal on piano, former concertmaster Lamar Alsop (and the father of distinguished conductor

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop ( �mɛər.ɪn ˈæːl.sɑːp born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor, the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate ...

) on viola, and Bert Phillips on cello. Carol's instrument was

Albert Spalding (violinist) Albert Spalding (August 15, 1888 – May 26, 1953) was an internationally recognized United States, American violinist and composer. Biography Spalding was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 15, 1888. His mother, Marie Boardman, was a con ...

's Guarnerius 'del Gesu' violin, made in 1743. The violin was once used to premiere the Barber Violin Concerto, and Carol played on it in his first performance of the piece with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Discography

A Violin Recital, Norman Carol *Format: LP *Label: RCA Records *Performers: Norman Carol *Release date: 1954 Ein Heldenleben, op. 40. *Format: LP *Label: RCA Records *Performers:

; Eugene Ormandy, Conductor Norman Carol, Concertmaster *Release date: 1980 Scheherazade: Symphonic suite, op. 35 *Format: LP *Label: RCA Red Seal *Performers:

; Eugene Ormandy, Conductor Norman Carol, Concertmaster *Tracks: The sea and Sinbad's ship (10:24) – The story of the Kalender prince (11:51) – The young prince and the young princess (11:35) – Festival at Bagdad; The sea and the ship goes to pieces on a rock surmounted by a bronze warrior; Conclusion (13:15). *Release date: 1973

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carol, Norman American classical violinists Male classical violinists 1928 births Living people Concertmasters Concertmasters of the Philadelphia Orchestra Musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra