Defauw, Désiré

views updated

Defauw, Désiré

Defauw, Désiré , Belgian conductor; b. Ghent, Sept. 5,1885; d. Gary, Ind., July 25, 1960. He was a violin pupil of Johan Smit. From 1914 to 1918 he led his own quartet, the Allied Quartet of London. He was prof, of conducting at the Brussels Cons, and conductor of its concerts (from 1926); he also conducted his own concert series in Brussels and was founder-conductor of the Orchestre National de Belgique there in 1937. In 1940 he went to Canada, where he was music director of the Montreal Sym. Orch. (1941–53). He was also music director of the Chicago Sym. Orch. (1943–47) and then of the Gary (Ind.) Sym. Orch. (1950–58).

Bibliography

M. Herzberg, D. D. (Brussels, 1937).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

More From encyclopedia.com