Simón Bajour also Szymsia Bajour (born Szymon Bachórz; 4 April 1928, Nasierowo Górne or

Nasielsk Nasielsk is a small town in Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located approximately north of the Polish capital Warsaw, on the Warsaw-Gdańsk rail line and serves as a railway junction. In 2020, the population of the town was estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

– 8 February 2005,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

) was a Jewish Polish-Argentine violinist who was known for both his popular and classical repertoires.

Biography

His father Szmuel (died 10 October 1951) sent Szymon as a child to the

Fryderyk Chopin University of Music The Chopin University of Music ( pl, Uniwersytet Muzyczny Fryderyka Chopina, UMFC) is a musical conservatorium and academy located in central Warsaw, Poland. It is the oldest and largest music school in Poland, and one of the largest in Europe.

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

where he studied under Wilhelm Krysztal. He left with his parents in 1937 for Argentina where his father had previously lived and been naturalized, and Szymsia later studied under

David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974), was a Soviet classical violinist, violist and conductor. Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin ...

in Moscow in 1963 and previously with

Ljerko Spiller Ljerko Spiller (22 July 1908 – 9 November 2008) was a famous Croat and Argentine violinist. Early life and education Spiller was born in Crikvenica to a Croatian Jewish family. After World War I Spiller moved with his family to Zagreb, where h ...

in Buenos Aires. Bajour was an original member of the

first Quinteto First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

Astor Piazzolla Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (, ; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed '' nuevo tango'', incorporating elements f ...

together with Jaime Gosis,

Kicho Díaz Enrique ''Kicho'' Díaz (Buenos Aires, 21 January 1918 – 5 October 1992) was an Argentine double bass tango musician who played in various ensembles including Aníbal Troilo’s orquesta típica, Astor Piazzolla’s first Quinteto and Conjunto 9 ...

and

Horacio Malvicino Horacio Malvicino (born 20 October 1929 in Concordia, Entre Ríos Province, Argentina) is a jazz and tango electric guitarist and composer who played for many years with the tango musician Ástor Piazzolla in several of his ensembles. Biography ...

recording the first recording of the song

Adiós Nonino ''Adiós Nonino'' (''Farewell, Granddaddy'' in Rioplatense Spanish) is a composition by tango Argentine composer Ástor Piazzolla, written in October 1959 while in New York, in memory of his father, Vicente "Nonino" Piazzolla, a few days after h ...

. He was the first violin for ''Los Solistas de Buenos Aires'' and also played in the tango orchestra of

Osvaldo Pugliese Osvaldo Pedro Pugliese (Buenos Aires, December 2, 1905 – July 25, 1995, Buenos Aires) was an Argentine tango musician. He developed dramatic arrangements that retained strong elements of the walking beat of salon tango but also heralded the de ...

, Carlos Di Sarli,

Atilio Stampone Atilio Stampone (1 July 1926 – 2 November 2022) was an Argentine pianist, composer, and arranger prominent in the Tango genre. Life and work He was born to Romana Zangone, from Calabria, and Antonio Stampone, a pasta maker from Napoli, in th ...

Leopoldo Federico Leopoldo Federico (12 January 1927 – 28 December 2014) was an Argentine bandoneon player, arranger, director and composer. Life Born in the district of Once in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Federico was one of the most outstanding bando ...

and

Miguel Caló Miguel Caló (October 28, 1907 – May 24, 1972) was a famous tango bandoneonist, composer, and the leader of the ''Orchestra Miguel Caló''. He was born in Balvanera, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Early years Born in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of ...

. Bajour began in the Argentine Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional served as first violin for the permanent orchestra of the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

. He worked in the Orquesta Sinfónica de La Habana between 1961–67 and later with the Orquesta de Jóvenes Músicos de la Argentina, the Universidad de San Juan, the Filarmónica de las Américas, the Sinfónica del Estado de México and the orchestra of the Universidad Nacional de Veracruz where he was exiled from 1976–1980. Between 1983–1992 he was a part of the chamber duo Bajour-Antognazzi, interpreting the complete cycle of the Sonatas by Beethoven for violín and piano. He served as musical instructor for violinists such as Daniel Zisman, Alejandro Rutkauskas, Pablo Agri, Pablo Saraví and Luis Favero, and violist Guillermo Anad. In 2009, he was awarded the

Premio Konex Konex Foundation Awards, or simply Konex Awards, are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation honouring Argentine cultural personalities. History and purpose Konex Awards are granted by the Konex Foundation, created in 1980 in Argentina. The pur ...

posthumously. He was one of a group of prominent Jewish tango musicians, including

Julio Jorge Nelson Julio Jorge Nelson (born Isaac Rosofsky; 27 April 1913 – 6 March 1976) was a leading Argentine tango musician. He helped establish the cult of Carlos Gardel and wrote several tangos. Biography Born in Buenos Aires into a Jewish family in ...

, Carlos Aguirre,

Raúl Kaplún Raúl Kaplún (November 11, 1910 - January 23, 1990) (born Israel Kaflún) was a well-known tango violinist, director and composer. Biography Raúl Kaplún was born in Balvanera, Buenos Aires to an itinerant Jewish hat salesman Leiser Finkel w ...

and Ismael Spitalnik.

Family

In 1950, he was married to María Teresa Duro "Totona", with whom he had two children, Cecilia and then Claudio. He also had two children — Leo and Zully — from a previous marriage.

References

Sources

Julio Nudler Julio Nudler (16 December 1941 – 27 July 2005) was an Argentine economic journalist. Nudler wrote for La Opinión, Clarín and La Razón before he became head of the economics section of Página/12 in 1990. In 2004 an article, in which he i ...

'' ''Tango judío. Del ghetto a la milonga'', Editorial Sudamericana, Buenos Aires 1998. * Ricardo Feierstein, ''Historia de los judíos argentinos'', Editorial Galerna, Buenos Aires, 2006

Links

Un violinista de raza, Clarín, 2005

Todo Tango - Simón Bajour

Official Website for Simon Bajour

Tango history

Article regarding Bajour

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajour, Simon 1928 births 2005 deaths Jewish Argentine musicians Jewish violinists Argentine tango musicians Polish emigrants to Argentina Argentine people of Polish-Jewish descent 20th-century violinists