Eugene Ormandy Biography

Fast Facts

• Spent much of his time and money helping family, friends, and others out of Europe during World War II, often putting them up in his own home, which came to be known as "Journey's End․"
• Studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Jenö Hubay, after whom he was named
• After a promising contract in the United States fell through, he found work at the Capitol Theater in New York in 1921, quickly rising through the ranks until he was discovered by Arthur Judson in 1926, who got him on the radio
• By the time he was 17, he had not only graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, but had begun teaching there
• Was a musical prodigy with perfect pitch who began training on the violin from a very young age
• Quote: "I don't believe that a performing artist's biography should be written by himself or anyone else․"
• Became the conductor of the Minneapolis Orchestra in 1931 and remained there for five years, after which he joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as a co-conductor, eventually becoming music director in 1938 and head conductor in 1941
• Began conducting the New York Philharmonic-Symphony in 1929 and was a guest conductor at Philadelphia Orchestra the following year, where administrators began considering him as a successor for their current conductor, Leopold Stokowski
• Best known as a violinist and conductor who was the music director for the Philadelphia Orchestra