Weisgall, Hugo
WEISGALL, HUGO
WEISGALL, HUGO (1912–1997), composer, conductor, and teacher. Born in Ivancice, Czechoslovakia, Weisgall emigrated to the United States in 1920. He conducted orchestras in Baltimore and was active in Jewish musical life, directing the Har Sinai Temple Choir (1931–42) and the Youth Alliance Orchestra (1935–42). From 1946 to 1947 he was a cultural attaché at the U.S. embassy in Prague. Weisgall also taught in New York City at the Juilliard School of Music (1956–60) and at Queen's College (1960–1983), and from 1952 was faculty chairman of the cantors' institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He was a nephew of Meyer *Weisgal.
His compositions include operas, such as Six Characters in Search of an Author (1956), Athaliah (1964), and Nine Rivers from Jordan (1968), as well as ballets, and choral and orchestral works.
bibliography:
Baker, Biog Dict, incl. bibl.; mgg, incl. bibl.