Jan Koert

Jan Hendrik (Jan) Koert (born 6 November 1853, Rotterdam — 2 February 1911, Atlantic City) was a Dutch-born musician, a leading solo violinist of his day in America, and concertmaster for some of the world's greatest orchestras.

Life and career

Koert was born in Rotterdam, where he studied the violin. There, in the beginning of the 1880s,[1] he joined the Bilse Orchestra of Ostend as second concertmaster.[2] After moving to Paris, he briefly joined the Anton Rubinstein Quintet with which he toured Europe.[1] In June 1889,[1] he moved to the United States where he played with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra of Chicago. The following year, he married Moritz Moszkowski's cousin, Polish pianist and soprano Selma Kronold (1861-1921),[3] but divorced her after ten years of married life due to their conflicting careers.[4]

Koert also played with the Seidl and Damrosch Orchestras of New York.[5] In 1892, he began studying at the National Conservatory of Music in New York, which at the time was directed by Antonin Dvorak,[1] and playing second violin with Adolph Brodsky of the Brodsky String Quartet.[6] Between 1894-1898, he joined the New York Symphony Orchestra, and from 1900-1908 the violin section of the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he became second concertmaster in his second season, and principal viola for the remaining six seasons.[1] He died in Atlantic City on 2 February 1911.[5]

References
  1. "Jan Koert". Stokowski.org. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  2. Musical Courier, Volumes 151-152. New York. 1955. p. 34. OCLC 243913475. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  3. "Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages". HighBeam Research. Cengage Learning. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  4. "Kronold Leaves Opera To Live Near Convent" (PDF). The New York Times. October 3, 1904. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  5. "Jan Koert Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  6. "Adolph Brodsky" (PDF). The New York Times. November 12, 1893. Retrieved 8 December 2014.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.