Matthew Krel (194520 May 2009) was a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish conductor who migrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and in 1988 founded the

SBS Radio and Television Youth Orchestra The SBS Radio and Television Youth Orchestra (SBS Youth Orchestra) located in Sydney, was one of the premier youth orchestras of Australia. It was founded in 1988 by the Russian-born conductor Matthew Krel, who died in 2009. It was disbanded in 2 ...

, of which he was the chief conductor until his death. Like his

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

friend, the composer

Dmitry Kabalevsky Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (russian: Дми́трий Бори́сович Кабале́вский ; 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue of Russian gentry descent. He helped set up the Union of Soviet Co ...

, he was passionate about creating quality musical performance ensembles for young people. He was also profoundly influenced by

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (; hu, Kodály Zoltán, ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music ed ...

's philosophy.Australian Jewish News

Biography

Matthew Krel was born in

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

, to Zalman and Doba Krel, who were not musically trained. He studied in Moscow at the

Gnessin State Musical College The Gnessin State Musical College (russian: link=no, Государственный музыкальный колледж имени Гнесиных) and Gnesins Russian Academy of Music (russian: Российская академия музык� ...

, graduating with a Master in Music in

piano accordion A piano accordion is an accordion equipped with a right-hand keyboard similar to a piano or organ. Its acoustic mechanism is more that of an organ than a piano, as they are both aerophones, but the term "piano accordion"—coined by Guido Deiro ...

and other keyboard instruments, and conducting. He conducted student and youth orchestras, worked at the Pushkin Drama Theatre, and toured internationally with Russian orchestras. He had a very close association with

. He left the Soviet Union for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in the mid-1970s, and moved to

in 1978, settling in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. His wife Faina, who had studied with him at the Gnessin College, played violin with the

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra that was initially formed in 1908. Since its opening in 1973, the Sydney Opera House has been its home concert hall. Simone Young is the orchestra's chief conductor and firs ...

. He taught music privately, worked as a pianist in the evenings, started the

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A ...

Music Centre School, and was assistant conductor with the

Sydney Youth Orchestra Sydney Youth Orchestras (SYO) provides a pathway for hundreds of young musicians from beginner to pre-professional to connect, create and champion orchestral music. Musicians are welcome to audition annually and are placed in orchestras and ens ...

.Sydney Morning Herald
/ref> He was also conductor of th
Strathfield Symphony Orchestra
from 1987-1994 where he instigated a short lived young performers concerto competition (1987-1988). In 1987 he approached the

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

(SBS) about creating an SBS orchestra of young people. In 1988 the management agreed, but it was up to Krel to make it work. Virtually no funds would be available to the non-profit orchestra, and neither state nor federal governments would support them financially. However SBS did provide the new organisation with free rehearsal space, storage space for instruments and use of a photocopier. The orchestra gave its first public performance at the

Sydney Town Hall The Sydney Town Hall is a late 19th-century heritage-listed town hall building in the city of Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia, housing the chambers of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, council offices, and venues for meetings and ...

in 1989. Under Krel's baton, the

performed the Australian premieres of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

's newly discovered Piano Concerto No.3 (with pianist Roman Rudnytsky),

Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. His compositions range over operas, ballets, orchestral suit ...

's ''Belkis, Queen of Sheba'',

Elena Kats-Chernin Elena Davidovna Kats-Chernin (born 4 November 1957) is a Soviet-born Australian pianist and composer, best known for her ballet ''Wild Swans''. Early life and career Elena Kats-Chernin was born in Tashkent (now the capital of independent Uzbek ...

's ''

Wild Swans ''Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China'' is a family history that spans a century, recounting the lives of three female generations in China, by Chinese writer Jung Chang. First published in 1991, ''Wild Swans'' contains the biographies of her g ...

'' Suite, and other works. He made his first return trip to his homeland in 1999, when he took the orchestra to Russia, one of their many international tours. Their playing was featured in the documentary ''The Russian Enigma'', first broadcast on SBS in 2001. It was repeated on 7 June 2009 in tribute to Krel. On 9 November 2008 he conducted the orchestra in only the sixth showing of the silent film ''

The New Babylon ''The New Babylon'' (russian: Новый Вавилон, Novyy Vavilon alt. title: russian: Штурм неба, Shturm neba) is a 1929 silent historical drama film written and directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg. The film deals w ...

'' (1929) with

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

's film score played by a live orchestra, and the first such presentation in Australia. Matthew Krel died on 20 May 2009 of a rare form of

encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include seizures, hallucinations, ...

. He was being treated for

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

when he caught a virus previously unrecorded in Australia. The virus is not normally fatal, but in his case it proved to be. His funeral was held on 25 May at Temple Emanuel, Sydney, and it featured a piece for string quartet called ''Consolation in Memory of Matthew Krel'', written for the occasion by his friend Elena Kats-Chernin. He was survived by his wife Faina, daughter Yelena and granddaughter Adrianna. In November 2013, the Board of the SBS Youth Orchestra announced the disbanding of the orchestra, and the endowment of a position in the Fellowship Program, one of the main education programs of the

, in perpetual remembrance of Matthew Krel.SBS Youth Orchestra to continue its legacy of musical training and excellence through the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Fellowship Program
Retrieved 14 April 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krel, Matthew 1945 births 2009 deaths Australian conductors (music) Soviet emigrants to Australia Musicians from Krasnoyarsk Gnessin State Musical College alumni Russian Jews 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century Russian conductors (music) Russian male conductors (music) 20th-century Russian male musicians