Ernest Fleischmann

A lost son is returning to Germany. Ernest Fleischmann, one of the most successful orchestra managers in the world, had left Frankfurt at age 12 when his parents fled from Adolf Hitler to settle in Cape Town. As a mere teenager in South Africa, he organized two music festivals, and at age 35 Fleischmann was hired as general director by the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1969, he took over the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he guided the orchestra's direction for 29 years. During that time, he transformed a good provincial orchestra into an orchestra with world reputation. He attracted music directors of international stature, created links to the film music industry and made the traditional Hollywood Bowl America's largest summer festival. A half-year ago (in March 1998), he passed his position at the Philharmonic on to a young Dutchman by the name Willem Wijnbergen. However, retirement is not an issue for 74-year-old Fleischmann. He just started a new company consisting of himself and one assistant. The cultural counseling company is called "Fleischmann Arts, " and it has customers in all parts of America and in Germany. He regularly visits the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg to give management advise. Georg Hirsch has a profile of this mover and shaker from Los Angeles.

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