Schermerhorn, Kenneth (de Witt)
Schermerhorn, Kenneth (de Witt)
Schermerhorn, Kenneth (de Witt), American conductor; b. Schenectady, N.Y, Nov. 20, 1929. He studied conducting with Richard Bürgin at the New England Cons. of Music in Boston (graduated, 1950), and also took courses at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, where he won the Koussevitzky Prize. His first important engagement was as conductor of the American Ballet Theater in N.Y. (1957–67); also was asst. conductor of the N.Y. Phil. (1960–61). He was music director of the N.J. Sym. Orch. in Newark (1963–68) and the Milwaukee Sym. Orch. (1968–80); then was general music director of the American Ballet Theater in N.Y. (from 1982) and also music director of the Nashville (Term.) Sym. Orch. (from 1983) and the Hong Kong Phil. (1984–88). In 1975 he married Carol Neblett .
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire