Jean-Marie Auberson (May 2, 1920 – July 4, 2004) was a Swiss

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

and violinist.

Early life and education

Auberson was born in Chavornay,

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

; his father, François Auberson, was a farmer. He studied

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

at the

Lausanne Conservatory The Haute école de musique de Lausanne (HEMU, known as Institute of Advanced Musical Studies prior to 2010, founded in 1861 as Conservatoire de Lausanne) is a Swiss music school located in Romandy, the French-speaking western part of Switzerland ...

, graduating in 1943 with a license to teach violin. He subsequently studied conducting with

Günter Wand Günter Wand (7 January 1912, in Elberfeld, Germany – 14 February 2002, in Ulmiz near Bern, Switzerland) was a German orchestra conductor and composer. Wand studied in Wuppertal, Allenstein and Detmold. At the Cologne Conservatory, he was a ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

in 1950–51 and from 1956 to 1960 under

Ernest Ansermet Ernest Alexandre Ansermet (; 11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)"Ansermet, Ernest" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 435. was a Swiss conductor. Biography Anserme ...

and

Carl Schuricht Carl Adolph Schuricht (; 3 July 18807 January 1967) was a German conductor. Life and career Schuricht was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), German Empire; his father's family had been respected organ-builders. His mother, Amanda Wusinowska, a widow soo ...

Career

He was engaged as a violinist by the

Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne The Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (OCL, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra) is a Swiss chamber orchestra based in Lausanne, Switzerland. The OCL is resident at the Salle Métropole in Lausanne. The OCL is an artistic partner with Lausanne Opera and reg ...

in 1943, and in 1946 moved to the

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall. In addition to symphony concerts, the OSR performs as the opera orchestra in productions at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. History ...

as a violist. He began his career as a conductor in 1951, as second conductor at the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, where he remained until 1956. He then became conductor at Radio Beromünster (now

Radio SRF 1 Radio SRF 1 is a Swiss radio channel, one of six operated by Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF), with its headquarters in Zürich. It was launched in 1931 as Radio Beromünster (named after the Beromünster municipality on which its origina ...

until 1962, and at the

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

of Saint-Gallen from 1962 to 1968. From 1968 to 1973, he was conductor for French repertoire and ballet at the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: ) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Generalmusikdirektor'' ...

, and from 1972 to 1975 conductor of the

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

radio symphony orchestra. He also conducted many productions at the

Grand Théâtre de Genève Grand Théâtre de Genève is an opera house in Geneva, Switzerland. As with many other opera houses, the Grand Théâtre de Genève is both a venue and an institution. The venue is a majestic building, towering over Place Neuve, officia ...

from 1966 onward. He conducted the premieres of a number of contemporary works, many broadcast by Radio Lausanne, and recorded with the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

chorus and orchestra and the Geneva Baroque Orchestra, among others.

Personal life and death

With his wife Antoinette Moulin, a pianist, Auberson had daughter , a

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

, and sons , a singer and percussionist, and , a jazz saxophonist and composer. He died in

Draguignan Draguignan (; ) is a commune in the Var department in the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (formerly Provence), southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department and self-proclaimed "capital of Artillery" an ...

, Var, France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auberson, Jean-Marie 1920 births 2004 deaths People from Jura-North Vaudois District Swiss classical violinists Male classical violinists Swiss male conductors (music) 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century Swiss conductors (music) 20th-century Swiss male musicians Lausanne Conservatory alumni