Mollenhauer, Emil

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Mollenhauer, Emil

Mollenhauer, Emil, American violinist and conductor, nephew of Eduard Mollenhauer ; b. Brooklyn, Aug. 4, 1855; d. Boston, Dec. 10, 1927. He studied violin with his father, Friedrich Mollenhauer, and in 1872 entered Theodore Thomas’s orch. He also played with the N.Y. Sym. Soc. He then went to Boston, where he played in the orch. of the Bijou Theatre (1883–84) and the Boston Sym. Orch. (1884–89). He then helped to found the Boston Festival Orch., serving as its concertmaster (1889–92) and its conductor (1892–1914); also conducted the German Band (from 1889; renamed as the Boston Band, 1904), the Boston Municipal Band, and the People’s Sym. Orch. He likewise was conductor of the Handel and Haydn Soc. (1899–1927).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire