Paul Lustig Dunkel
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Paul Lustig Dunkel (July 22, 1943 – January 14, 2018) was an American
flutist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
and
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 ...
. From 1983 to 2008, he served as music director of the
Westchester Philharmonic The Westchester Philharmonic is a professional symphony orchestra based in Westchester County, New York, United States. The orchestra performs in the concert hall of the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College. The orchestra was founded in 19 ...
. He also taught at the
New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...
, the
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 ...
,
Queens College, City University of New York Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...
,
Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...
, the
University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...
and
State University of New York at Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase, commonly referred to as Purchase College or SUNY Purchase, is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. Established in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, SUNY Purchase is one of 13 compr ...
.


Biography

Dunkel was born in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where he spent his early years. His mother, Johanna Lustig, was a
pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
from
Vienna, Austria Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
and his father, Eugene Borisovich Dunkel, was a
scenic designer Scenic may refer to: * Scenic design * Scenic painting * Scenic overlook * Scenic railroad (disambiguation) * Scenic route * Scenic, South Dakota, United States * Scenic (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse Aviation * Airwave Scenic, an Austr ...
, born in
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. Dunkel began studying the piano at the age of eight, and with the encouragement of Marianne Kuranda, his piano teacher, began studying the flute two years later. He studied flute with Robert DiDomenica and William Kincaid, and piano with Lothar Epstein and Anka Bernstein-Landau. He attended
The High School of Music & Art The High School of Music & Art, informally known as Music & Art (or M&A), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High Sc ...
in New York City. He grew up on the upper West Side of Manhattan, where, prior to attending Music & Art, he attended Franklin School, where he was renowned for his skill at playing baseball. In 1966, Dunkel took the silver medal at the Birmingham International Woodwind Festival (UK). (
James Galway Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". After several years working as an orchestral musician, he established an international career as a solo flute pl ...
took the gold.) In 1978, he co-founded and picked the players for Dennis Russell Davies's American Composers Orchestra. He acted as both manager and principal flute, later a resident conductor. As music director of the Westchester Philharmonic, Dunkel developed a reputation for presenting new works and promoting new artists. In honor of his 15th year with the orchestra, a composition by
Melinda Wagner Melinda Jane Wagner (born 1957 in Philadelphia) is a US composer, and winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize in music. Her undergraduate degree is from Hamilton College. She received her graduates degrees from University of Chicago and University of P ...
was commissioned. '' Concerto for Flute, Strings, and Percussion'' was subsequently awarded a
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
in 1999. Dunkel and the orchestra were the recipients of the 2000 Leonard Bernstein Award for Educational Programming from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the American Symphony Orchestra League for excellence and innovation in music education. Dunkel concluded his Westchester Philharmonic tenure after the 2007–2008 season. Dunkel died on January 14, 2018, aged 74.


References


External links

* *
Biography at American Composers Orchestra

'Paul Dunkel, Flute', New York City Ballet Orchestra Musicians page

The Music Sack, page on Paul Lustig Dunkel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunkel, Paul Lustig 1943 births 2018 deaths American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) American classical flautists American people of Austrian descent American people of Russian descent Musicians from New York City The High School of Music & Art alumni Place of death missing Classical musicians from New York (state)