David Golub (March 22, 1950 – October 16, 2000) was an American pianist and conductor.

Biography

Born in Chicago, Golub moved with his family to Richardson, Texas when he was five years old. He began piano lessons not long thereafter when his father, himself an amateur musician, noticed the boy attempting to play

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

’s ''Moonlight'' Sonata by ear. Following study with Dallas teachers Betty Lief Sims and Alexander Uninsky, Golub entered the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, where he studied with

Beveridge Webster Beveridge Webster (May 13, 1908, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – June 30, 1999, in Hanover, New Hampshire) was an American pianist and educator. Biography Beveridge Webster initially studied with his father, who was director of the Pittsburgh Co ...

, at age 18; parental concerns had prevented his acceptance of a scholarship offered four years earlier. Golub soon began what would be a series of well-respected chamber music partnerships by teaming with cellist

Leonard Rose Leonard Joseph Rose (July 27, 1918 – November 16, 1984) was an American cellist and pedagogue. Biography Rose was born in Washington, D.C. His parents were Jewish immigrants, his father from Bragin, Belarus, and his mother from Kyiv, ...

. Rose, in turn, introduced Golub to violinist

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

; in 1979, the two received considerable international attention as the first major Western musicians to undertake an extended recital tour of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

after the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. The resultant film, '' From Mao to Mozart,'' won the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for best full-length documentary in 1981. Not long thereafter, Golub, violinist Mark Kaplan, and cellist

Colin Carr Colin Carr (born 25 October 1957) is a British cello soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher. Biography Born in Liverpool, Carr is professor of cello at the Royal Academy of Music. He taught at the New England Conservatory in Bos ...

formed the Golub-Kaplan-Carr Trio, a well-respected and extensively-recorded chamber group, which won the AFIM Indie award for best classical ensemble in 1995 in honor of its recording of Smetana and Tchaikowsky piano trios on the Arabesque label. Golub was also a member of the

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music in New York City and around the world. It is the largest organization of its kind in the country for chamber m ...

. Golub’s accomplishments as a chamber musician did not exclude a distinguished career as a soloist. Of particular note was his recording of Gershwin’s ''Concerto in F'' and ''Rhapsody in Blue'' with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, also on Arabesque, which ''Time'' magazine honored as one of the ten best records of 1988. Toward the end of his life, Golub turned increasingly to the conductor’s podium. Among the organizations for which he served in that capacity were the Padua Chamber Orchestra, with which he toured the United States in 1999. He also worked with the

Hong Kong Philharmonic The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra () is a symphony orchestra based in Hong Kong. Colloquially referred to as the HKPO or HKPhil (), the orchestra was first established in 1947 as an amateur orchestra under the name Sino-British Orchestra (), ...

. He also conducted opera—both on records and at the

Festival della Valle d'Itria The Festival della Valle d'Itria is a summer opera festival held in the south eastern Italian town of Martina Franca in the Apulia region. The Festival was founded in 1975 and performances are given in July and August each summer on a specially ...

Martina Franca Martina Franca, or just Martina (Bari dialect, Martinese: ), is a town and ''comune, municipality'' in the province of Taranto, Apulia, Italy. It is the second most populated town of the province after Taranto, and has a population (2016) of ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

—displaying particular interest in reviving works outside the standard repertory. With the Padua Chamber Orchestra he recorded the

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

operas

La Fedeltà Premiata ' (''Fidelity Rewarded''), Hob. XXVIII/10, is an opera in three acts by Joseph Haydn first performed at the Eszterháza palace in Fertőd, Hungary, on 25 February 1781 to celebrate the reopening of the court theatre after a fire. The opera was re ...

(1999) and

L'Isola disabitata ' ( English: ''The Uninhabited Island''), Hob. 28/9, is an opera (') by Joseph Haydn, his tenth opera, written for the Eszterházy court and premiered on 6 December 1779. The libretto is the only one by Metastasio set by Haydn. The libretto ha ...

(1998). He died of lung cancer in Milan, Italy, aged 50.

References

The foregoing derives mostly from the following obituaries: *''The Times,'' October 23, 200

*Martin Anderson, ''The Independent'' (London), November 20, 200

:Also: *"Concert Date Set For David Golub," ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'', 9 February 1963. *"Concert Will Climax Symphonic Festival," ''The Dallas Morning News'', 20 March 1966. {{DEFAULTSORT:Golub, David Musicians from Chicago American male classical pianists Musicians from Dallas Deaths from lung cancer in Italy 2000 deaths 1950 births 20th-century American classical pianists Classical musicians from Texas Classical musicians from Illinois 20th-century American male musicians