León Zuckert (4 May 1904 – 29 May 1992) was a Canadian composer, conductor, arranger, violinist, violist and radio pioneer of Ukrainian descent. He was married to the poet Ella Bobrow, with whom he collaborated on many songs.
Early life and education
Zuckert was born in Poltava, Ukraine into a Jewish family. From 1916 to 1918, Zuckert studied the violin under Boris Brodsky at the Imperial Music Society School in Poltava. During the Russian Revolution, his father was arrested and died in prison; the family moved to Poland.
Career
As a young man in Poland, Zuckert worked in a lumberyard, and then as a violist, playing first in cafes and later in a military orchestra. He moved to Argentina, where he lived for six years, playing music for movie theatres. as well as in a symphony orchestra. He immigrated to Canada in 1929, joining family in Toronto, where he played violin in a radio orchestra for a short time.
Zuckert moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he played in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and in the 1930s hosted a radio show of violin and piano music, "To a Wild Rose", for the CBC (then known as the CRC, or Canadian Radio Commission). He organized a 16-piece ensemble, Los Pamperos, which he conducted on the show, arranging much of the music himself.
Zuckert later toured with a number of orchestras, stage companies and dance bands in Canada and the United States, and played with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1951 to 1956. From 1963 to 1965 and 1967–1969, he was the assistant conductor and principal violinist of the Halifax Symphony Orchestra.
In 1974 he was commissioned by the CBC to compose "Fantasia of Ukrainian Themes", which was premiered as part of the Winnipeg Centennial Festival. He was also commissioned to create an orchestra arrangement of Tevye's Hodel, to be played by an ensemble from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
After moving about for much of his life, Zuckert retired to Toronto, where he died 29 May 1992.
Selected works
- "Quintette de la Luna de Mar"
- "The Quetico" – symphonic suite film soundtrack
- Along Gypsy Trails (CD)
- "Fantasia on Ukrainian Themes"
- "In the Gleam of Northern Lights" (oratorio)
See also
- Zuckert
References
- Canadian Composer. Vol. 4. Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. 1993. p. 26.
- John T. Saywell (1965). Canadian Annual Review. University of Toronto Press. p. 514.
- "The Cultured Mosaic". Winnipeg Free Press, 17 May 1975 – Page 113 via Newspaper Archives
- Slavs in Canada. Inter-university Committee on Canadian Slavs. 1966. p. 93.
- ^ "León Zuckert". The Canadian Encyclopedia, Nancy Mcgregor, 7 February 2006
- ^ Michael Schulman."Leon Zuckert:An old-world composer inspired by travel". Canadian Composer, February 1978
- "Along Gypsy Trails". The Georgetown Herald. 14 August 1940.
- Slonimsky, Nicolas (1978). "Zuchert, Leon". Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (6th ed.). New York: Schirmer Books. p. 1952. ISBN 0-02-870240-9.
- "A Rewarding CBC Concert". Winnipeg Free Press, 31 May 1974 – Page 6. via Newspaper Archives
- Rick Kardonne. "Tevye's Hodel features Lebane". Canadian Jewish News, 6 May 1977, page 12
- Opera Canada. Vol. 12–14. Canadian Opera Association. 1971. p. 5.
- "Wisconsin Program on Preserving Wilds Slated Superior". Eau Claire Leader, 10 February 1961 – Page 10 via Newspaper Archives
External links
Categories:- 1904 births
- 1992 deaths
- Canadian male composers
- Canadian music arrangers
- Canadian classical violinists
- Canadian male classical violinists
- Canadian classical violists
- Ukrainian composers
- Ukrainian conductors (music)
- Canadian male conductors (music)
- Ukrainian classical violinists
- Ukrainian classical violists
- Canadian people of Ukrainian descent
- Musicians from Poltava
- 20th-century Canadian conductors (music)
- 20th-century classical violinists
- 20th-century Canadian composers
- 20th-century Canadian male musicians
- 20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers
- Canadian male violinists and fiddlers
- 20th-century violists