Milton Preves, Date of Birth, Date of Death
TweetMilton Preves
American conductor
Date of Birth: 18-Jun-1909
Date of Death: 11-Jun-2000
Profession: conductor
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Gemini 
About Milton Preves
- Milton Preves (June 18, 1909 in Cleveland, Ohio – June 11, 2000 in Glenview, Illinois) was a violist, conductor and pedagogue.
- He was a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 52 years, of which 47 years were as principal violist. Preves attended the University of Chicago.
- In 1931, he joined the Little Symphony—a Chicago Symphony training ground—and was promoted to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1934.
- He became principal violist in 1939, which position he held until he retired from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1986.
- He played under the batons of all the Chicago Symphony's conductors, up until Sir Georg Solti, except for the Chicago Symphony's founder, Theodore Thomas. Preves was a founding member of the Chicago String Quartet, as well as the music director for Chicago's North Side Symphony for 26 years.
- Besides playing the viola, he was a conductor with the Oak Park-River Forest, Wheaton, and Gary symphonies, as well as the Gold Coast Chamber Orchestra.
- He was also a part of the music faculty at a number of universities: Chicago Musical College, Northwestern University, and DePaul University. In 1963, he resigned as conductor of the Oak Park-River Forest orchestra, because Carol Anderson, a talented black female violinist whom Preves had recruited for the symphony, was pressured to resign because of her race.
- The president of the orchestra quickly apologized, and urged Preves to continue to conduct the group.
- He did not return for 25 years and when he did, it was only to play as a soloist with the orchestra. Ernest Bloch dedicated his Meditation and Processional to Milton Preves.
- Preves taught many students, some of whom continue to teach, passing down his style.
Read more at Wikipedia