Symphony Orchestra Conductor. At the age of nine, he entered San Francisco, California's musical scene and began his dream of becoming a world-class musician. By the age of eleven, he was conducting the San Francisco Boys' Chorus. After working as assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic he became musical director of the Oakland Symphony at age twenty-eight. He was the first African-American to be named conductor of a major United States symphony orchestra and a frequent guest conductor with some of the nation's major opera companies and orchestras. He died in a canoeing accident at thirty-two.
Symphony Orchestra Conductor. At the age of nine, he entered San Francisco, California's musical scene and began his dream of becoming a world-class musician. By the age of eleven, he was conducting the San Francisco Boys' Chorus. After working as assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic he became musical director of the Oakland Symphony at age twenty-eight. He was the first African-American to be named conductor of a major United States symphony orchestra and a frequent guest conductor with some of the nation's major opera companies and orchestras. He died in a canoeing accident at thirty-two.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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Conductor of the Oakland Symphony Orchestra
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