Samuel Baron (April 27, 1925 in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

– May 16, 1997 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 ...

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) 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 ...

. He studied violin in high school and then attended

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 ...

as a flute student of

Georges Barrère Georges Barrère (Bordeaux, October 31, 1876 - New York City, New York, June 14, 1944) was a French flutist.Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2001) Early life Georges Barrère was the son of a cabinetmaker, Gabriel Barrère, and Marie P ...

and Arthur Lora, graduating in 1948. While at Juilliard, Baron formed the New York Brass Ensemble, and in 1953, the group released an LP recording of seven canzonas by Giovanni Gabrielli with Baron conducting. Meanwhile, the

New York Woodwind Quintet The New York Woodwind Quintet has been an ensemble-in-residence at the Juilliard School in New York City since 1987. At Juilliard, the members of the New York Woodwind Quintet present seminars each year for student woodwind ensembles, regularly coa ...

had formed in 1947, and Baron was its flutist from 1948 until 1969 and again from 1980 until 1997. With the quintet, Baron made many recordings, premiered many works, and toured widely in North and South America, Asia, and Europe. He took a leave from the ensemble to perform as principal flute with the Minneapolis Symphony (now the

Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Th ...

) for the 1952–53 season. Baron was flutist for the

Bach Aria Group The Bach Aria Group is an ensemble of vocal and instrumental musicians that was created in 1946 by William H. Scheide in New York City to perform the works of J. S. Bach. The Bach Aria Group was a classical music ensemble that specialized in perf ...

from 1965 until 1997. When its founder, musicologist William Scheide, stepped down in 1980, Baron become the director of the group and established the Bach Aria Festival and Institute, which took place at

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

in summers from 1981 until 1997. Several works were dedicated to Samuel Baron, including Eldin Burton's ''Sonatina for Flute and Piano'' (1948), Karl Korte's ''Remembrances for Flutes (Alto, Soprano, and Piccolo) and Electronics'' (1971), and Meyer Kupferman's ''Superflute'' for solo flute with prerecorded piccolo and alto flute (1971). Baron taught generations of students at

starting in 1966,

starting in 1971, the

Yale School of Music The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at Yale University. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), as well as a joi ...

(1966–68), and the

Mannes College of Music The Mannes School of Music (), originally called the David Mannes Music School and later the Mannes Music School, Mannes College of Music, the Chatham Square Music School, and Mannes College: The New School for Music, is a Music school, music con ...

(1969–72). From 1977 through 1978, Baron was president of the

National Flute Association The National Flute Association (NFA) is an organization of flute players with roughly 5,000 members from more than 50 countries. It is an association in the United States with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. The organization was founded in 1972 ...

, which honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.Michael Stoune and Penny Fischer, "Lifetime Achievement Awards," ''The Flutist Quarterly'' 23, no. 2 (Winter 1998), p. 109.

Publications

Articles *“Higher Performance Standards: The Younger Generation of Flutists,” ''The Instrumentalist'', August 1978. *“Introduction” to ''The Flute and Flute Playing'' by Theobald Boehm. New York: Dover Publications, 1964. *“Practicing as a Way of Life,” ''Flute Talk'' (November 1984): pp. 18–19. *“Reminiscences of a Golden Age – New York City (1946-1951),” ''The Instrumentalist'', December 1987, pp. 19–24. *“A Visit to the Japan Flute Club,” ''The Instrumentalist'', June 1964. Editions *Bach, Carl Philipp Emmanuel, Sonata in A Minor, H. 562, Armstrong, 1975. *Bach, Johann Sebastian, Sonata in A Major, BWV 1032, Oxford University Press, 1975. *Vivaldi, Antonio, Piccolo Concerto in C Major, F. VI, No. 4, Franco Colombo Publications, 1962.

Recordings

*see https://www.discogs.com/artist/652186-Samuel-Baron

Notes

Interviews with Samuel Baron

*Duffie, Bruce, “Flutist Samuel Baron: A Conversation with Bruce Duffie” http://www.bruceduffie.com/baron2.html *Estevan, Pilar, “Samuel Baron,” in ''Talking With Flutists''. New York: Edu-Tainment, 1978, pp. 21–36. *Goll Wilson, Kathleen, “Samuel Baron: Observant Teacher,” ''Flute Talk'' (February 1990), pp. 9–13. *Hansen, Polly, “Samuel Baron: Still Learning,” ''Flute Talk'' (November 1984), pp. 2–6. *Marianello, Linda, “Our Profession’s Changing Face,” ''The Flutist Quarterly'' 22, no. 4 (Summer 1997), pp. 31–3.

Publications

Recordings

Notes

Interviews with Samuel Baron

Further reading