In Tuesday’s (10/18) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Andrew Druckenbrod reports on the death of Gideon Toeplitz, manager of several orchestras, “most prominently the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 1987 to 2003. Highlights of his tenure include restructuring its finances and signing conductor Mariss Jansons as music director, Marvin Hamlisch as pops conductor, increasing international touring and establishing relationships with major artists. Mr. Toeplitz, formerly of Squirrel Hill, died in his sleep on Sunday in Israel. The exact cause was not yet known, but he had diabetes. He was 66.” After playing as a substitute flutist in the Israel Philharmonic in his native Tel Aviv, Toeplitz studied arts management at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Soon after, the Boston Symphony Orchestra hired Mr. Toeplitz in administration. … After rising to the Boston Symphony’s orchestra manager, he left to lead the Rochester Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony and then the PSO. Along the way he gained the admiration of many in the business. … His early years with the PSO, during the Lorin Maazel tenure as music director, saw great steps after financial difficulties. Mr. Toeplitz righted the ship in the 1990s, including reducing the orchestra’s exorbitant draw on its endowment, raising its budget and booking the PSO on important European and world tours with Mr. Maazel and Mr. Jansons.”
Posted October 18, 2011
