Walter Hendl

Walter Hendl (January 12, 1917 – April 10, 2007) was an American conductor, composer and pianist.

Hendl was born in West New York, New Jersey, and later went on to study with Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. From 1939 to 1941 he taught at Sarah Lawrence College in New York City. In 1941 and 1942, he was a pianist and conductor at the Berkshire Music Center under Serge Koussevitzky. In 1945, he became associate conductor of the New York Philharmonic. In 1949, he was appointed music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and he held this position until 1958. In 1953, Hendl became the music director of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. He remained with Chautauqua until temporary ill health necessitated his resignation in 1972. He was also active in the Symphony of the Air and conducted its 1955 tour of east Asia.

In 1958, Reiner appointed Hendl associate conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and he served in this post until 1964. At the same time, he was the first artistic director of the Ravinia Festival and served there from 1959 to 1963. He left the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1964. From 1964 to 1972, Hendl served as director of the Eastman School of Music at Rochester, New York, and was also musical adviser to the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and its part-time conductor.

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