Herbert Grossman

Herbert Grossman (September 30, 1926 – September 11, 2010) was an American conductor who was chiefly known for his work within opera and musical theatre.

Born in New York City, Grossman was the son of a businessman. He studied piano and trombone in his youth before entering Queens College, City University of New York in 1942. There he continued to pursue studies in both instruments and was a student of Karol Rathaus and Curt Sachs. His studies were interrupted by World War II, and he served in the United States Navy in the South Pacific from 1944-1946. After returning home in 1946, he returned to Queens College to finish his degree; reorienting his studies at that time towards a concentration in conducting. In the summers of 1947 and 1948 he was a student of conducting at the Tanglewood Music Center, studying under such greats as Leonard Bernstein, Boris Goldovsky, and Serge Koussevitzky.

In 1949 Grossman joined the conducting staff of the newly formed NBC Opera Theatre (NBCOT). In 1952 he took a leave of absence from that organization to further hone his conducting skills in Europe. He spent the next two years conducting operas at the Bavarian State Opera and working as an associate conductor of the Munich Philharmonic. He returned to the NBCOT in 1954 when he was appointed the company's new associate conductor, and in 1956 he was promoted to conductor at the NBCOT. He conducted several operas for television for NBC up until the company disbanded in 1964, including the world premieres of Philip Bezanson's Golden Child (1960) and Gian Carlo Menotti's Labyrinth (1962) and the 1963 film of Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors.

...
Wikipedia