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Leopold Stokowski | |
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| Born | Leopold Anthony Stokowski 18 April 1882 Marylebone, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 13 September 1977 (aged 95) Nether Wallop, Hampshire, England |
| Resting place | East Finchley Cemetery |
| Occupations |
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| Known for | Music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra; Founder of the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra and the American Symphony Orchestra |
| Notable work | Film: Walt Disney's Fantasia Carnegie Hall One Hundred Men and a Girl |
| Spouses | Evangeline Johnson
(m. 1926; div. 1937) |
| Children | 5 |
Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor.[1] One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was especially noted for his free-hand conducting style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from the orchestras he directed.[2]
Stokowski was music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the NBC Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony of the Air and many others. He was also the founder of the All-American Youth Orchestra, the New York City Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra and the American Symphony Orchestra.
Stokowski conducted the music for and appeared in several Hollywood films, most notably Disney's Fantasia, and was a lifelong champion of contemporary composers, giving many premieres of new music during his 60-year conducting career. Stokowski, who made his official conducting debut in 1909, appeared in public for the last time in 1975 but continued making recordings until June 1977, a few months before his death at the age of 95.
- ^ Bowen, José A. (2001). "Stokowski, Leopold". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.26825. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ "Leopold Stokowski | British conductor". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 January 2020.