“Victor Feldbrill, principal conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra from 1958-68, founder of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and tireless champion of music by Canadian composers, died on June 17 at the age of 96,” reads an unsigned obituary in last Thursday’s (6/18) CBC Music (Canada). “Following his decade at the WSO, Feldbrill returned to his hometown of Toronto where he was resident conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1973-78. At the outset of his career, he had been a section violinist in the TSO and had made his conducting debut with the organization at 18…. His discography includes orchestral works by John Weinzweig, Norma Beecroft, Barbara Pentland, Harry Somers and Godfrey Ridout. Feldbrill studied alongside Glenn Gould at the University of Toronto and would later share the concert stage with his former classmate…. Together, Gould and Feldbrill recorded Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1959…. Feldbrill had been active as a conductor as recently as 2017, when he led the WSO on the occasion of its 70th anniversary. He was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1985 and was awarded the Order of Ontario in 1999.”
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