Arnold Volpe

Arnold Volpe (July 9, 1869 – February 2, 1940) was a Russian-born American composer and conductor. He was related to the composer Stefan Wolpe.

Biography Early life Arnold was born Aaron-David Levy-Itzkovich Volpe in Kaunas, Kovno Governorate, Russian Empire on July 9, 1869. His parents were Lewis (Itsik Levik) Volpe and Ella (Elka Reiza) Gabrilowitsch. He was Jewish. He received his basic musical education at the Warsaw Conservatory in the 1880s. After a brief tour, at the suggestion of Rubinstein he returned to the conservatory and engaged in a deeper study of harmony and counterpoint with Nicolai Soloviev which lasted until 1897 when he graduated as a composer. Among the notable young musicians in his Symphony Orchestra were Richard Burgin and Nat Shilkret. The orchestra received good reviews for the high quality of its programming and performances. After Seligman died in a car accident in June 1912, a large donation of funds and his musical instrument collection passed on to the orchestra. The orchestra disbanded in 1914. At first, Volpe was not worried, but as conditions deteriorated he retreated to London where the family sailed back to the United States. According to Edwin Franko Goldman, big-band summer concert series of this type were still relatively new, and Volpe's was one of the first of its kind after Goldman's own. Rather than playing the type of stirring patriotic and popular music common to outdoor concerts, Volpe's idea was to present a more challenging programme of Classical and Operatic works to a broad audience. Although critics expected it to fail, it was very successful and attracted large audiences of thousands.

In 1922 he relocated with his family to Kansas City, Missouri where he became the new director of the Kansas City Conservatory of Music.

In 1925 he and his wife toured the west coast and he was guest conductor at the Hollywood Bowl for their summer concert series.

After that tour the family settled in Miami, Florida, where in 1926 Volpe helped found the Miami Symphony Orchestra and became an instructor in the University of Miami's music program.

He died on February 2, 1940, in Miami. A generous memorial fund was also set up in his name in 1940, to be administered by the university and a panel of musicians including Mischa Elman and Serge Koussevitzky The fund's mandate included the support of musical events at the university and the creation of a new building in the music department, the Arnold Volpe Building.

Marie Volpe died in 1970.