Born: October 5, 1925 (Cleveland, Ohio)

Died: February 15, 2011 (Pittsburgh, PA)

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Sidney Harth was an American violinist and conductor. He was born in Cleveland and graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Joseph Knitzer, Mishel Boris Piastro and George Enescu.

In 1948, Mr. Harth was a winner of the Naumburg Violin Award. In 1957, he became the first American to receive the Laureate Prize in the Wieniawski Violin Competition held in Poland.

In 1952 - 1952, he made his European debut touring France with pianist Theodore Lettvin in a concert series organized by the National Music League and Jeunesses Musicales International. He performed with major orchestras throughout the world and made recordings with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Krakow Radio and Television Orchestra.

Mr. Harth served as concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In addition he was concertmaster and associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and concertmaster and assistant conductor of the Louisville Orchestra. Additional orchestras he conducted: Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in South Africa, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Chamber Orchestra of Seattle and the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. In 1975, he was a conductor with the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell in New York's Central Park summer series.

He was on faculty at the Yale School of Music for 17 years, and was the Head of the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University, where he also taught violin and chamber music. Mr. Harth also directed conducting programs at Mannes College in New York, the University of Texas in Houston and the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut. In addition, he was director of orchestral activities at Duquesne University Mary Pappert School of Music.

He was married to the violinist Teresa Testa and father to Laura, a record producer and recording executive, and the late Robert Harth, the executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall.

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