Désiré Defauw (5 September 1885,

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

– 25 July 1960,

Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...

, United States) was a Belgian conductor and violinist. Defauw was a pupil of the violinist Johan Smit (1862-1932) and gave his first London performances in 1910. During World War I he became a refugee working in London, founding the Allied Quartet with Charles Woodhouse (second violin),

Lionel Tertis Lionel Tertis, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (29 December 187622 February 1975) was an English viola, violist. He was one of the first viola players to achieve international fame, and a noted teacher. Career Tertis was born ...

and Emile Doehaerd.Arthur Jacobs. 'Defauw, Désiré'
in ''Grove Music Online'' (2001) In 1917 he appeared at the

Steinway Hall Steinway Hall (German: ) is the name of buildings housing concert halls, showrooms and sales departments for Steinway & Sons pianos. The first Steinway Hall was opened in 1866 in New York City. Today, Steinway Halls and are located in cities suc ...

on 26 June 1917 to perform the first British performance of

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

's Violin Sonata with

Joseph Jongen Joseph Marie Alphonse Nicolas Jongen (14 December 1873 – 12 July 1953) was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator. Biography Jongen was born in Liège, where his parents had moved from Flanders. He was the elder brother of Léon Jonge ...

, about six weeks after the French premiere. The same year he also appeared at the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

performing John Ireland's Violin Sonata No. 2 with the composer at the piano. He was professor of conducting at the Brussels Conservatory and was the first conductor of the Orchestre National de Belgique from 1937. He left Belgium for North America in 1940 and was music director of the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra () is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the curren ...

from 1941 to 1952 and also music director of the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...

from 1943 to 1947. In 1947 he recorded the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the CSO and Mischa Elman as soloist. Defauw later served as music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

, from 1954 to 1958, retiring through ill-health. He was simultaneously the conductor of the Bloomington-Normal Symphony Orchestra (IL) from 1953 to 1958.
The Bloomington-Normal Symphony Orchestra
', McLean County Museum of History

References

Sources

* Foreman, Lewis (ed). ''The John Ireland Companion'' Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2011.

External links

Désiré Defauw biography
at the Bach Cantatas Website

at

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1885 births 1960 deaths Male conductors (music) Belgian emigrants to the United States Belgian refugees 20th-century Belgian conductors (music) 20th-century Belgian classical violinists 20th-century Belgian male musicians Music directors of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music directors of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra {{violinist-stub