Born: November 24, 1924 (Winnipeg, Canada)

Died: May 4, 2020 (New York, NY)

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Lorne Munroe, cellist, served as principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic for thirty years, from 1964-1996, a tenure that included more than 150 concerto collaborations. He was hired by Leonard Bernstein and played under Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta and Kurt Masur.

Munroe studied with Gregor Piatigorsky and Orlando Cole at the Curtis Institute of Music. Additional studies included at the Royal College of Music. After serving in the US Army during World War II, he graduated from Curtis.

Prior to the New York Philharmonic, Munroe was a member of the Cleveland and the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestras, and principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1951 to 1964.

He was a winner of the Naumburg Award in 1949. Munroe was a featured soloist on four occasions -- 1965, 1968, 1971, and 1973 -- with the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts in Central Park's Naumburg Bandshell summer series.

Munroe was a member of the Juilliard faculty from 1973 to 2000.