Theodore Spiering
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Theodore Spiering (Theodore Bernays Spiering) was a violinist, conductor, and teacher. He was born September 5, 1871 in Old North St. Louis, Missouri and died August 11, 1925 in Munich.
At age five he took his first lessons in violin from his father, who was concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He made his first public appearance at age seven. He studied at the College of Music of Cincinnati (now the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music ) with violin teacher Henry Schradieck. In Berlin 1888-92, he studied with Joseph Joachim and in 1892 he was the concertmaster of the Joachim Hochschule Orchestra.
With a letter of recommendation from Joachim, he joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1892 and remained with that organization until 1896. He often appeared as a soloist under conductor Theodore Thomas. He also organized the Spiering Quartet, which performed 400 concerts between 1893-1905. He founded the Spiering Violin School and was also director and instructor of violin for the Chicago Musical College 1902-05. He spent 1905-1909 in concert tours in Europe. Gustav Mahler chose him as concertmaster for the New York Philharmonic 1909-1911. He conducted the orchestra for the final seventeen concerts of 1911 due to Mahler's illness. It was expected he would be chosen as the orchestra's next conductor, but instead the tradition of seeking a conductor in Europe continued with the selection of Josef Stransky. Disappointed, he returned to Europe and guest conducted the Berlin Philharmonic and Blüthner Orchestra. He also applied for the conductorship of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, but that position went to Rudolf Ganz.
With the outbreak of World War I he returned to New York and engaged in teaching and conducting the philharmonic. In September 1923 he guest conducted in Berlin and Vienna, and he was appointed conductor of the Oregon Symphony (then the Portland Symphony Orchestra) in 1925. Prior to that appointment, he also conducted the Oregon Symphony as part of a rotating triumvirate. Finally, Spiering had a permanent position as conductor of an American orchestra. For rest and also to choose new scores for the orchestra, he traveled to Europe in 1925 and was taken ill in Munich and died there before the beginning of the fall season for the symphony. He was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery.
[edit] References
- Dictionary of American Biography 1928-1936.
- International Who's Who in Music and Musical Gazetteer, 1918.
- Who's Who in America 1924/1925
| Preceded by Carl Denton |
Music Directors, Oregon Symphony 1925 |
Succeeded by Willem van Hoogstraten |
