Stoessel, Albert

American violinist, conductor, and composer.

Albert Stoessel was an American composer, conductor, and teacher. $bHe was born in St. Louis, MO on October 11, 1894. He studied in the Berlin Hochschule under Emmanuel Wirth and Willy Hess. At age 19 he made his professional debut as a violinist. In 1921 he became assistant conductor of the Oratorio Society of New York under Walter Damrosch. Beginning in 1923, he taught at the music department of New York University, leaving in 1931 to become director of orchestra and opera departments at the Juilliard School of Music. He was also director of a number of local orchestras. His opera Garrick premiered in 1936. He was married to Julia Pickard in 1917. Stoessel died while conducting at the American Academy of Arts and Letters on May 12, 1943.

Albert Stoessel was born in St. Louis, Missouri on Octobert 11, 1894. He studied music at the Berlin Hochschule as a pupil of Emanuel Wirth and Willy Hess. At 19 he began his professional playing career with the Hess String Quartet, and toured as a violin solist in Switzerland, Holland, and Germany. He returned to the United States in 1915 for a concert tour, appeared with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Symphony, and lived in Boston until 1917 while pursuing his career as a violinist and composer.

Stoessel enlisted in the United States Army in 1917, becoming a leiutenant in the 301st Infantry American Expeditionary Forces and leader fo the regimental band at Camp Devens. Stoessel went to France in 1918 wth the 76th Division as bandmaster of the 301st. He became Director of the AEF Bandmaster's School of Chaumont, France, organized by Walter Damrosch.

After his discharge in 1919, Stoessel performed as a soloist with the Boston Symphony and toured with Enrico Caruso's last tour. In 1921 he became the assistant conductor of the Oratorio Society of New York under Walter Damrosch. For seven years, beginning in 1923, he was the head of the New York University Music Department, from which he was awarded a master's degree in 1924. He left to become director fo the departments of opera and orchestra at the Juilliard Graduate School of Music in 1931. He became conductor fo the Worcester Festival of the Worcester (Massachusetts) County Musical Association in 1925, and conducted the Westchester Festival in White Plains, New York, from 1927 to 1933. Stoessel first began work with the Chautauqua Institution in 19212 as a conductor, and in 1929 he was appointed Musical Director.

Albert Stoessel composed the opera Garrick in 1936, wrote a teatise in 1919 entitled The Technique of the Baton, and composed a number of violin, piano, choral, and orchestra pieces. His wife, Julia Pickard Stoessel, had also been a violin student in Berlin. They were married June 27, 1917, and had two sons, Edward and Fredric.

It was while onstage conducting an orchestra for the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York, that Stoessel died of a heart attack on May 12, 1943.

Albert Stoessel (1894-1943) was an American violinist, conductor, and composer. Born in St. Louis, he received his early musical training there. In his late teens, he studied violin, composition, and conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where he made his debut as a violinist. After a European tour as a member of the Hess String Quartet, he returned to the United States, debuting in 1915 as violin soloist with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. In 1920, he performed as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and toured with the tenor Enrico Caruso; the following year he helped to found the American Music Guild.

Stoessel succeeded Walter Damrosch as conductor of the Oratorio Society of New York in 1921, became director of music of the Chautauqua Institution in 1923, and succeeded Henry Hadley as conductor of the Worcester (Massachusetts) Music Festival in 1925; he held all three posts until his death. He also appeared as guest conductor of the symphony orchestras of Boston, Cleveland, and St. Louis, among others.

From 1923 to 1930, Stoessel established and was the first head of the music department of New York University. In 1927, he accepted the directorship of the opera and orchestra departments of the Juilliard Graduate School. He was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1931.

Stoessel collapsed and died on stage on May 12, 1943, while conducting an ensemble at an event for the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Sources:

Gustave Reese and Michael Meckna. "Stoessel, Albert." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed September 18, 2013, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/26816.

"Stoessel's Career Started In Europe." The New York Times, May 13, 1943, p. 15.