Irwin Eisenberg (1919-July 3, 2014) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

violinist and string quartet player. He was a member of the

Philadelphia String Quartet The Philadelphia String Quartet was an American string quartet founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA in 1959-60, by four members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. They later broke off from the orchestra and accepted a residency at the University ...

Life and career

Eisenberg was a member of the St. Louis Symphony, and founded the St. Louis String Quartet. After several seasons with the symphony, Eisenberg joined the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

. (See Box 183, Folder 38) There, he served as the assistant principal second violinist.

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

lists him as an alumnus who was in the Philadelphia Orchestra. Eisenberg was part of the String Art Quartet. In 1960, he co-founded the Philadelphia String Quartet, with whom he was the second violinist. The other members were

Veda Reynolds Veda Reynolds (1922–2000) was an American violinist, string quartet player, and teacher. Early life and training Veda Reynolds was born in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1922. Her father, James Leroy Reynolds,. was concertmaster of the Denver Symp ...

, first violinist;

Alan Iglitzin Alan Iglitzin (born November 7, 1931) is a violist and string quartet player. He was a member of the Philadelphia String Quartet and founded the Olympic Music Festival on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state. Personal life and education Ala ...

, violist and Charles Brennand, cellist. While the members were still playing with the Philadelphia Orchestra, they worked as a quartet, culminating in a six-concert Carnegie Hall debut. In 1966, Irv, as he was known to colleagues, and the quartet departed the Philadelphia Orchestra. They became quartet-in-residence at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in Seattle.

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published an article on their departure on Oct.7, 1966 Over their 17-year residency, the quartet performed extensively at the University of Washington. They made tours of South America, Europe and the United States. In 1968, the US State Department invited the Philadelphia String Quartet to become the first American string quartet to perform in India. Eisenberg was a champion of living composers and the quartet performed many new works and premiers. Irv and the quartet also performed as part of the UW Contemporary Group which played all new music. With the Philadelphia String Quartet, he recorded music of American composers, including

George Rochberg George Rochberg (July 5, 1918May 29, 2005) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Long a serialism, serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the technique after his teenage son died in 1964, saying it had proved inadequate to expres ...

and

Paul Chihara Paul Seiko Chihara (born July 9, 1938) is an American composer. Life and career Chihara was born in Seattle, Washington in 1938. A Japanese American, he spent three years of his childhood with his family in an internment camp in Minidoka, Idah ...

. He also performed as a substitute player with the

Seattle Symphony The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchest ...

and as a member of the

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is an American ballet company based in Seattle, Washington. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dancers and hosts ...

Orchestra. Irv commissioned new works, including a solo violin piece by long-time colleague at the University of Washington music department, composer Robert Suderberg. He also performed as a guest violinist with other ensembles.

Teaching career

Eisenberg taught private violin pupils since 1938. In 2004, he was named "Teacher of the Year" by the Washington division of the American String Teacher .

Early life and personal life

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Irwin began his violin studies with Scipione Guidi, who was concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony. Eisenberg attended the Eastman School of Music where he studied with Gustave Tinlot. Subsequently Eisenberg went to New York to study with

Raphael Bronstein Raphael Bronstein (June 25, 1896 – November 4, 1988) was a Lithuanian-born American violinist and violin professor. Early life He was born in a Jewish family in Vilnius, Lithuania and studied violin with Leopold Auer at the St. Petersburg Conser ...

. Eisenberg was married to Shilah Portnoy, with whom he had two sons. In 1986, Irv married the artist Teresa Malinowski. Irv's sons are David of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and Don. who works with his holiness, the Dalai Lama, in

Dharamsala Dharamshala (, ; also spelled Dharamsala) is a town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It serves as the winter capital of the state and the administrative headquarters of the Kangra district since 1855. The town also hosts the Tibetan ...

, India. When the Dalai Lama came to visit Seattle, Irv and family hosted him at the Eisenberg home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eisenberg, Irwin 1919 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American classical violinists Musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra Eastman School of Music alumni Musicians from St. Louis