Born: January 11, 1910 - Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
Died: December 6, 1987 - Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA |
American conductor, Izler Solomon, made his conducting debut with the Lansing Civic Orchestra in 1931, and during the 1930's worked for the WPA as music director for the State of Michigan. Much of his career was spent with orchestras in the Midwest. He was a champion of 20th-century American music. As conductor of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra (1936-1941) he introduced more than 150 American works. Subsequently he was music director of the Columbus Philharmonic Orchestra (1941-1949), and of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (1956-1976). As a guest conductor he appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Indiana University Philharmonic Orchestra.
After his retirement from the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1976, Izler Solomon donated his music collection to Indiana University. The collection is important for the large number of scores by contemporary composers, many reproduced from manuscript, and never published. In addition there are many taped performances and rehearsals of Solomon with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. |