[Henry Lewis]
NYTimes.com
By ROBERT D. McFADDEN
Published: January 29,
1996
“Henry
Lewis, who broke racial barriers in the music world as the first
black conductor and music director of a major American orchestra, the
New Jersey Symphony, and as the first black to conduct at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York, died on Friday at his home in
Manhattan. He was 63. The cause was a heart attack, his former wife,
the mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, said.”
“Though suffering
from lung cancer in recent years, he continued to serve as music
director of the Opera-Music Theater Institute of New Jersey and of
the Netherlands Radio Orchestra, and was a frequent guest conductor
for opera companies and symphony orchestras in Europe and America.”
“Mr.
Lewis was only 16 when he joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Twelve
years later, he made his conducting debut with that orchestra. He
then founded the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and was engaged
as a guest conductor by top orchestras across the country.”
[Emphasis added]
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