Ernst (later Ernest) Drucker was born in Cologne in 1909. He graduated from the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Cologne in 1933. He joined the Stauch Trio (Adolf Stauch and Oswald Uhl) and also led his own string quartet. He also worked as the concert master and soloist for the Jüdische Kulturbund in Frankfurt and Berlin. In 1938, he immigrated to the United States and became a member of the Indianapolis and Cleveland orchestras. He married Ethel Gisnet in Brooklyn in 1939. In 1943, he was drafted into the armed forces and served in the Air Force. After his discharge in 1945, Adolf Busch asked him to join the Busch Chamber Players, and Drucker toured with them through Europe. He left the Busch Chamber Players to spend more time with his wife and his son and became the first violinist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 1947. He kept this position until 1985. He died in New York in 1993.
From the guide to the Ernest Drucker Collection, 1926-2003, bulk 1935-1965, (Leo Baeck Institute)
