Austrian-Canadian conductor and music administrator.

Career Summary

Grand-nephew of the Austrian composer Adalbert von Goldschmidt (1848‒1906), Nicholas Goldschmidt studied composition (Josef Marx), piano (Paul Weingarten), and voice (Corneille de Kuyper) at the Vienna Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst, after which he pursued a career in Europe as a conductor.

He emigrated to the USA in 1937, where he served first as director of opera at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Stanford University from 1938 to 1942, then Columbia University in New York City 1942 to 1944. He subsequently moved to Canada, where he was music director of the Royal Conservatory Opera School (University of Toronto Opera Division) 1946‒57, and conducted productions of operas. In 1950 he co-founded the Royal Conservatory Opera Company (later the Canadian Opera Company). From the 1960s through to the 2000s, he was active widely as conductor and organizer, gave vocal recitals, and served as advisor on many bodies.

Goldschmidt and Moriz Violin

Goldschmidt is mentioned in two of Moriz Violin's letters to Arnold Schoenberg, referred to as a "degenerate descendant" of Adalbert von Goldschmidt in LC ASC 27/45, [17], January 26, 1940, and is referred to in passing by a San Francisco official in LC ASC 27/45, [29], July 20, 1941.

Sources

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