BIOGRAPHY

(b. August 14, 1928)

Born in Philadelphia on August 14, 1928, Anshel Brusilow began studying violin by the age of five. At the age of eleven, he entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and studied under the direction of Efrem Zimbalist Sr., then under Jani Szanto at the Philadelphia Musical Academy where he received his diploma in 1947. At the age of 16, he became the youngest conducting student ever accepted by Pierre Monteux.

He made his professional debut as a violinist with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1944 and in 1949 he was the 2nd annual 1st place winner of the prestigious Jacques Thibaud Marguerite Long Violin Competition. He went on to serve as concertmaster of the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra (1954-55) and then the associate concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra (1955-59) under the direction of George Szell. As concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra (1959-66), under the direction of famed conductor Eugene Ormandy, Brusilow appeared as a soloist of some of the most famous recordings of the time, including Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, and Strauss' Ein Heldenleben.

During his tenure as concertmaster with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Brusilow founded and became conductor of the the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra (1961-65) and subsequently the Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia (1966-1968), with whom he recorded several albums under the RCA Victor label.

Brusilow went on to serve as resident conductor (1970-71) and executive director and conductor (1971-73) of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra's first tours of Central and South America were under Brusilow's baton. Additionally, he started the pops series that the orchestra performs to this day. DALLASOUND, the most notable recording during this period, featured several arrangements by Bill Holcombe, renowned arranger and composer of music for band and orchestra.

In 1973, he became Director of Orchestral Studies in the College of Music at North Texas State University (1973-1982) in Denton, Texas. This was followed by a time in a similar post at Southern Methodist University (1982-89) in Dallas. In 1989 he rejoined NTSU (by then renamed the University of North Texas) where he directed the Orchestral Studies program until his retirement in 2008. In 2009, a $1,000,000 endowment established the Anshel Brusilow Chair for Orchestral Studies in his honor.

Since 1992, Brusilow has also been the music director and conductor of the Richardson Symphony Orchestra in Richardson, Texas.