- Henri Verbrugghen
Henri Verbrugghen (
August 1 1873 -November 12 1934 ) was a Belgian musician, who directed orchestras inEngland ,Scotland ,Australia and theUnited States .Born in
Brussels , Verbrugghen made his first appearance as a violinist when only eight years old, and was a successful student at the Brussels Conservatorium under Hubay and Ysaye, winning many prizes. He visited England with Ysaye in 1888, and in 1893 settled in Scotland as a member of theScottish Orchestra . During the summer he led the orchestra atLlandudno underJules Riviere . For a time he was a member of theLamoureux Orchestra atParis and then for three years was deputy-conductor at Llandudno. He was director of music for four years atColwyn Bay , and then returned to the Scottish Orchestra.In 1902 he became leader and deputy-conductor under
Frederic Cowen , and during the promenade season led theQueen's Hall Orchestra for three years. He became chief violin professor at the Athenaeum,Glasgow , and in 1911 succeeded Dr Coward as conductor of theGlasgow Choral Union . In April 1914 he enhanced his growing reputation when aBeethoven Festival was held at London, Verbrugghen "conducting throughout the festival with insight and masterly ability" (The Musical Times, 1 June 1914, p. 399). Early in 1915 he was appointed director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium at a salary of £1,250 a year.Verbrugghen arrived in
Sydney in the same year full of enthusiasm. He had a great admiration for English people but did not like the methods of their schools of music, and decided that the conservatorium at Sydney should be based on continental models. He got together a remarkably fine orchestra, including the other members of his excellent string quartet who had come with him. For six years Verbrugghen's influence on the musical life of Sydney was of outstanding importance, but the politicians had not realized that it is impossible to carry on work of this nature without financial loss. The orchestra was disbanded in 1921 and Verbrugghen, who had suffered much from worry, went to America for health reasons.In 1922 he was a guest conductor of the
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra , and had such a brilliant success that he was given the position of permanent conductor. Efforts were made in Australia to persuade him to return without success. In 1931 he collapsed at a rehearsal of his orchestra, and never completely recovered his health. From September 1933 he was chairman of the Department of Music atCarleton College , Northfield,Minnesota , and he died in 1934.References
*Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Henri|Last=Verbrugghen|Link=http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogT-V.html#verbrugghen1
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