Bernard Greenhouse (January 3, 1916 – May 13, 2011) was an American

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

and one of the founding members of the

Beaux Arts Trio The Beaux Arts Trio was a noted piano trio, celebrated for their vivacity, emotional depth and wide-ranging repertoire. They made their debut on 13 July 1955, at the Berkshire Music Festival, Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, known today as the ...

Life and career

Greenhouse was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

. He started his professional studies with

Felix Salmond Felix Adrian Norman Salmond (19 November 188820 February 1952) was an English cellist and cello teacher who achieved success in the UK and the US. Early life and career Salmond was born to a family of professional musicians. His father Norman S ...

at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, 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 ...

when he was eighteen. After four years of study with Salmond, Greenhouse proceeded to move on to studies with

Emanuel Feuermann Emanuel Feuermann (November 22, 1902 – May 25, 1942) was an internationally celebrated cellist in the first half of the 20th century. Life Feuermann was born in 1902 in Kolomyja, Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Kolomyia, Ukraine) to ...

Diran Alexanian Diran Alexanian ( hy, Տիրան Ալեքսանեան) (April 12, 1881, Constantinople – 1954, Chamonix, France) was an Armenian cello teacher and one of the world's greatest virtuoso cellists. Early life He started his studies in music u ...

, and then became one of the very few long-term students of

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals,

, studying with him from 1946 to 1948. After finishing studies with Casals, Greenhouse went on to pursue a solo career for twelve years. He struggled with this however, as the cello was not a very popular solo instrument at the time. During this period, he encountered

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 ...

ist

Daniel Guilet Daniel Guilet (born ''Daniel Guilevitch'', Russian: russian: Даниил Гилевич, January 10, 1899 – October 14, 1990) was a French, and later, American, classical violinist, best known for being a founding member of the Beaux Arts ...

, who invited Greenhouse in 1954 to play some

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music. The term can also refer to a group of m ...

s with

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Menahem Pressler Menahem Pressler ( he, מנחם פרסלר; born 16 December 1923) is a German-born Israeli-American pianist. Pressler is Jewish. Following Kristallnacht, he and his immediate family fled Nazi Germany in 1939,

. In 1955 they met in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the first meeting of what was to become the Beaux Arts Trio. In 1958, Greenhouse acquired the ''Countess of Stanlein'', also called the ''Paganini Strad'', one of 63

Antonio Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, '' Stradivarius'', as well as the collo ...

cellos, and played it ever after."Bernard Greenhouse: A Master And His Cello"
''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

'' ''Diaries'' interview by Joe Richman, broadcast August 21, 2008, by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. Following his death, it was to be sold by Boston violin dealer Christopher Reuning. In 1987, he left the trio, and was replaced by cellist

Peter Wiley Peter Wiley (born 1955) is a cellist and cello teacher. He entered the Curtis Institute of Music at 13 years of age, where he studied with David Soyer. He was then appointed principal cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony at age 20, after one year ...

. Greenhouse was known for his impeccable technique, but even more so for his inspiring passion and the depth and variety of his sound. During his career, he taught at the

Hartt College of Music The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, that offers degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and ...

, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory,

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

and the Juilliard School. A series of videos of his master classes were produced in 1993 by Ethan Winer. Though retired from institutional teaching, Greenhouse still gave

master class A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are being developed. "Masterclass" is als ...

es throughout the

United States 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 territori ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, China,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, Japan and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

until his death in 2011. Interviewed as the farewell concert of the Beaux Arts Trio on August 21, 2008 approached, he said he practiced every day and was considered "the old man of the cello", with other aging cellists being surprised that he still performed at the age of 95. Greenhouse also remained the oldest of those who have played in the trio, until at least 2015, Daniel Guilet (who was born about a week short of 17 years earlier) having died at the age of 91, and

Isidore Cohen ''For the composer born with this name, see Isidore de Lara'' Isidore Cohen (December 16, 1922 in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York – June 23, 2005 in Bronx, New York (state), New York) was a renowned chamber musician and violinist and member ...

having died at 82. Greenhouse's second passion was sailing on one of his several boats. He died on May 13, 2011 at his home overlooking the

Wellfleet, Massachusetts Wellfleet is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, and is located halfway between the "tip" and "elbow" of Cape Cod. The town had a population of 3,566 at the 2020 census, which swells nearly sixfold during the summer. A t ...

harbor on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

. His daughter, Elena, with Aurora de la Luz Fernandez y Menendez, was married to author Nicholas Delbanco. His grandson-in-law is director

Nicholas Stoller Nicholas Stoller (born March 19, 1976) is a British-American filmmaker. He is known mainly for directing the 2008 comedy '' Forgetting Sarah Marshall'', its 2010 spin-off/sequel, ''Get Him to the Greek'', '' The Five-Year Engagement'', '' Neighbo ...

Students

Greenhouse's notable students include: * Timothy Eddy * Maxine Neuman * Paul Katz * Amit Peled * Damien Ventula * Stjepan Hauser * Uzi Wiesel * Astrid Schween * Kurt Baldwin * Sophia Bacelar

Partial discography

;Appearances ;;With the Vellinger Quartet *Schubert: String Quintet in C (BBCMM75, 1998) ;; ;;With the

Henri René Henri René (born Harold Manfred Kirchstein; December 29, 1906 – April 25, 1993), was an American musician who had an international career in the recording industry as a producer, composer, conductor and arranger. Early years Born in New York ...

Orchestra *'' RCA Victor Presents Eartha Kitt'' (RCA, 1953) *'' That Bad Eartha (EP)'' (RCA, 1954) *'' Down To Eartha'' (RCA, 1955) *'' That Bad Eartha (LP)'' (RCA, 1956) *'' Thursday's Child'' (RCA, 1957)

References

External links

UNCG Special Collections and University Archives Cello Music Collection: Bernard GreenhouseBernard Greenhouse Personal Papers Collection, 1916-2011UNCG Special Collections and University Archives past exhibits: Celebrating the Cello Music Collection: The Greenhouse LegacyUNCG Digital Collections: Bernard Greenhouse Collection''Bach: Cantata No. 79 "Gott is unser Sonn' und Schild''- performed by the Bach Aria Group - Bernard Greenhouse, cello; Maureen Forrester, contralto; Robert Bloom, oboe; Paul Ulanowsky, piano (1966) on archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenhouse, Bernard All articles with unsourced statements American classical cellists American music educators Juilliard School alumni Jewish American musicians 1916 births 2011 deaths New England Conservatory faculty Musicians from Newark, New Jersey Classical musicians from New York (state) Classical musicians from New Jersey Beaux Arts Trio members 20th-century classical musicians University of Hartford Hartt School faculty Stony Brook University faculty Manhattan School of Music faculty Rutgers University faculty Juilliard School faculty 20th-century cellists

Life and career

Students

Partial discography

References

Further reading

External links