“Harold Shaw, legendary artist manager and an heir to the great Sol Hurok’s glittery roster, died on the morning of Jan. 28,” writes Susan Elliott on Friday (1/31) at MusicalAmerica.com. “His firm, Shaw Concerts, was among the key players in the classical music business in the latter part of the 20th century,” managing artists such as Daniel Barenboim, Vladimir Horowitz, Jessye Norman, and Van Cliburn. “He also managed tours and ensembles, including orchestras and dance companies. He launched Shaw Concerts in 1969, taking with him many of the artists he had managed at Sol Hurok’s firm during the previous two decades. Among his biggest jobs in the Hurok days was serving as director of performing arts for the 1960-61 Seattle World’s Fair…. Performers ranged from the Greek National Theater to the Bunraku-Sa puppets of Japan to Poupee de Paree, a nude show in the style of the Casino de Paris…. Shaw was born … in the tiny hamlet of Porter in Washington County, VT…. He took music courses at Ithaca College … and was also fairly proficient on violin and cello…. In the pre-Hurok years, Shaw … [worked] for the likes of the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine and John Terrell’s Music Circus.”
Posted January 31, 2014
