Oscar Zimmerman

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Oscar Zimmerman

Born:

September 21, 1910 in Philadelphia.

Died:

April 2, 1987 in Traverse City, Michigan

Studied with: Anton Torelló i Ros at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Played for: Philadelphia Orchestra from 1930 to 1936, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, NBC Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic.

Instruments: His favorite instrument was a Gagliano he bought while still at Curtis from Torello. He called it the Black Gagliano because he had two, a yellow and black. For the last ten years of his life he had two basses, a Francesco Rugieri and a Hugo Rautmann. He heard Waldimar Geise play the Scontrino Concerto, on the Rautmann with Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra while a student a Curtis. He was so impressed with the projection that he bought the bass at Geise' death (1948) and used it for all his solo work. (This information courtesy of Robert Zimmerman.)

Comment: Professor of double bass at the Eastman School of Music.

Bibliography:

Zimmerman, Oacar G. and Murphy, George, Once More...From the Beginning

Kupferberg, Herbert, Those Fabulous Philadelphians (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1969)