Julius Hegyi

Julius Hegyi (February 2, 1923 – January 1, 2007) was an American conductor and violinist.

He spent his lifetime building orchestras, founding chamber music groups and instilling a passion for music in young and old alike. His belief in contemporary music, especially American music, as conductor, violinist and mentor, brought compelling listening experiences to his audiences. Hegyi was well known for his expert grasp of European repertoire, routinely giving commanding performances of Beethoven and Brahms, for example.

Background Hegyi was an active proponent of American music, with concerts devoted to world premieres of many composers. He performed works by contemporary European and Chinese composers, as well.

Performed first concert on the violin, age 10 Attended Stuyvesant High School, NYC, 1941 Graduate, The Juilliard School, NYC, studying violin with Sascha Jacobsen and Edouard Dethier; graduating with high honors; recipient of the Frank Damrosch Memorial Scholarship. The Town Hall, NYC, recitals, 1945 and 1946 Violinist: Berkshire String Quartet; New York Civic Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conductor; the New York Philharmonic; RCA Victor Symphony; Radio City Music Hall Symphony; the New York City Center Ballet Orchestra; Little Symphony Orchestra, NYC; Contemporary Music Society, Solomon Guggenheim Museum, NYC Founder, Amati String Quartet Studied conducting with Dimitris Mitropoulos Conductor, Southwestern Symphony Center Orchestra, 1948 Concertmaster and associate conductor, San Antonio Symphony, 1948 Founder and conductor, San Antonio Little Symphony, 1948–1950 Conductor/violinist, Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony , Eureka Springs, AR, 1951–1956 Music Director, Abilene Symphony Orchestra, 1952–1954 Prize Winner, First International Competition for Conductors, Liverpool, England, 1958 Member, American Symphony Orchestra League, 1958- Co-founder, Music in The Round, chamber music series, with Charlotte Hegyi, 1954–1985 Conductor, Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, 1955–1965 Founder/violinist, Hegyi Piano Trio, Chattanooga, TN, 1955 to 1962, with pianist Charlotte Hegyi, and cellist Martha McCrory Founder and First Director, Sewanee Summer Music Center, 1956–1962 Conductor/violinist, Southwestern Regional Composers' Forum, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 1957–1965 Faculty, music department, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, 1965–1985 Music Director and Conductor, Berkshire Symphony Orchestra, Williamstown, MA, 1965–1985 Conductor, Lake George Opera Company, 1971 Music Director, Principal Conductor, Albany Symphony Orchestra, 1966 to 1987 Conductor Emeritus, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Albany, NY, 1987- Guest Conductor/violinist, New York Philharmonic (1987), Philadelphia Orchestra (1978), Wichita, KS, Charlotte, NC, Oak Ridge, TN, Troy, NY, Schenectady, NY, Little Red School House, NYC, Sacramento, CA, Beijing Symphony Orchestra and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (1985); as well as orchestras in Romania, Puerto Rico and El Salvador. Winner, Columbia University's Alice M. Ditson Conductor's Award, 1983 for programming and sponsoring American Music Resident Conductor, Florida Philharmonic, 1991 to 1992 Married from 1944 - 1948 to his first wife, Elaine Shapiro. They had one child, Lee Silver born 1945, died 2001. Married from 1949 - 1950 to his second wife, Martha Jane Bucy of Lubbock, Texas, and they were divorced in 1950. There were no children from this union. Married from 1953 - 1992 to his third wife, Charlotte Barrier of Lubbock, Texas, and lived in Chattanooga, TN and Williamstown, MA. They had one child, Lisa Hegyi Raymond born in 1962. Married from 1994 - 2007 to his fourth wife, Nancy King Hegyi. Survived by widow, Nancy Hegyi, of Fountain Hills, Arizona, sister Louise Larson, daughter Lisa Hegyi Raymond, and grandchildren. Predeceased by son, Lee Silver, of Plainfield, VT

Performances Hegyi, in his role as conductor/violinist, performed many world premieres, such as: Fredric Goossen, Litanies, Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, 1964 Jacob Druckman, Lamia, for soprano and orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, 1974 Carson Kievman, Second Symphony, "Resurrection", Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, 1991 Charles Wuorinen, Third Piano Concerto, Albany Symphony Orchestra, soloist, Garrick Ohlsson Malcolm Arnold, Eighth Symphony, Albany Symphony Orchestra, May 1979 Tobias Picker, The Encantadas, Albany Symphony Orchestra, 1983 Robert Starer, Quartet for piano, violin, viola, cello, Music in the Round, 1977

Hegyi performed works by an extensive number of American composers, including John Alden Carpenter, Henry Hadley, Leo Sowerby, Daniel Gregory Mason, Quincy Porter, Scott Lindroth, George W. Chadwick, Ezra Laderman, Horatio Parker, Lester Trimble, Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy, Michael Schelle, Tobias Picker, Irwin Bazelon, Francis Thorne, Charles Wuorinen, Jacob Druckman, Aaron Copland, George Crumb, Robert Parris, Sydney Hodkinson, Leonardo Balada, Carson Kievman, Frederic Goossen, Walter Piston, Leonard Bernstein, Edward MacDowell, Morton Gould, Samuel Barber, William Schuman, Robert Ward, Wallingford Riegger.

Reviews John Rockwell wrote in the New York Times "...it can be flatly said that the best performance (and the most unusually interesting piece, too) was Mr. Hegyi's account of Barber's one-movement symphony, which had its premiere in 1936, was revised in 1944 and championed by Artur Rodzinski and Bruno Walter. The score blends considerable passion with Barber's wonderfully characteristic arching lyricism. Mr. Hegyi, who has a good deal of experience with 20th-century American music, given the Albany Symphony's venturesome commitment to that cause, played it with a sure technical command that never got in the way of expressivity."

Discography Carpenter/Hadley/Mason/Porter, New World Records, Albany Symphony Orchestra, conductor, Julius Hegyi, 1984 Albany Symphony Orchestra-Trimble/Laderman, Composers Recordings, Inc., Albany Symphony Orchestra, Julius Hegyi, conductor, 1985 Parker, Horatio/Chadwick, George W., , New World Records, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Julius Hegyi, conductor, 1986 Music in the Round, Williamstown, MA, Divertimento in E flat major, W.A. Mozart Music in the Round, Williamstown, MA, 6 Duos for Violin and Cello, WV 50-55 (Hoffmann, Heinrich Anton)