Murray Bernthal

Murray Bernthal (April 15, 1911 – December 9, 2010) was an American concert impresario, conductor, and violinist active in Syracuse, New York, for more than six decades.

In 1946 he co-founded the Famous Artists series, a concert and touring-Broadway operation that he directed for 64 years, bringing many leading performers and productions to Central New York. He taught on the Syracuse University music faculty from 1932 until 1977. With his first wife, Rose, he was involved in the effort to save Syracuse's Landmark Theatre from demolition in the 1970s.

He was the grandfather of the actor Jon Bernthal and the musician Adam Schlesinger.

Early life and education

Murray Bernthal was born on April 15, 1911, in Brooklyn, New York. He came to Syracuse in 1928 to attend Syracuse University on a partial basketball scholarship, but chose to forgo basketball when he was awarded a four-year music scholarship. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in music at the university. He founded and conducted orchestras and classical ensembles that preceded the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and later played violin with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra from 1961 to 1966. Bernthal and his first wife, Rose, ran Famous Artists together for five decades. After Bernthal's death, Albert Nocciolino continued the series. Bernthal recalled that when the theater was slated to become a parking lot, he and about a dozen others each put up $200 to begin buying it. He recruited further contributors until the group owned the building.

Personal life

Bernthal's first wife, Rose Wartsky Bernthal, was a violinist and his partner in Famous Artists. She died in 2002 at the age of 84.

Honors

In February 1995, Bernthal received the Syracuse Post-Standard Achievement Award. The following year, he and Rose received a lifetime achievement award at the Syracuse Area Music Awards.