Monday (3/18) on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette online, Andrew Druckenbrod writes, “Seymour Rosen’s 11-year tenure with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra was a major part of a long career as a highly respected orchestra executive. His time as managing director here had a long-reaching effect, including overseeing the move from the Syria Mosque to Heinz Hall and the hiring of Andre Previn. Mr. Rosen died of cardiac arrest Saturday in his home Valhalla, NY. He was 87. … ‘He really understood how orchestras work,’ said his son Jesse Rosen, who followed his father into the field and is now [President and CEO] of the League of American Orchestras. … ‘He was a manager in the field when the profession was just growing up. He was a part of this movement in the 1960s and ’70s during which a professional class developed that brought business acumen with discerning musical judgment and artistic purpose.’ ” A graduate of the Juilliard School, the elder Rosen “took an American Symphony Orchestra League manager’s training course and in 1961 became manager of Orchestral Society of Westchester, New York. In 1962 he took over Columbus Symphony Orchestra, led the Buffalo Philharmonic from 1963-66 and became American Symphony Orchestra League executive director in 1966. … In 1978 at the age of 52, he took over the top management position in the Philadelphia Orchestra. That post further solidified his stature and in 1982 he was hired by Carnegie Hall as managing and artistic director.”
Posted March 18, 2013
