Background

Adler, Kurt Herbert was born on April 2, 1905 in Vienna, Austria. Son of Ernst and Ida (Bauer) Adler. came to the United States, 1938, naturalized, 1941.

Education

Student, Vienna State Academy Music, 1922-1926; student, University Vienna, 1923-1927; Doctor of Music (honorary), College of Pacific, 1956; Doctor of Music (honorary), University San Francisco, 1976.

Career

Coach, accompanist, chorus director, instructor, conductor, Max Reinhardt's theatres, Vienna, 1925-1928; coach, accompanist, chorus director, instructor, conductor, various opera houses, Germany and Italy, 1928-1934; conductor, Volksoper, Vienna, 1934-1936; conductor, Vienna Concert Orchestra, 1934-1936; assistant conductor to A. Toscanini, Salzburg Festival, 1936; instructor, Salzburg Mozarteum, 1936-1937; conductor opera and radio, Czechoslovakia, 1936-1938; conductor, Chicago Opera Company, 1938-1943; conductor, Grant Park Concerts, Chicago, 1941-1942; guest conductor, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, 1942; with, San Francisco Opera Company, 1943-1981; assistant to general director, San Francisco Opera Company, 1952; artistic director, San Francisco Opera Company, 1953-1956; general director, San Francisco Opera Company, 1956-1981; conductor annual Midsummer Music Festival, San Francisco Opera and Symphony, 1944-1981; with, New Opera Company. New York City, 1945. Lecturer, guest conductor symphony orchestra University of California, Berkeley, 1949-1950.

Artistic advisor San Francisco Conservatory Music, 1949-1952. Conductor youthconcerts San Francisco Symphony, 1949-1952. Guest conductor Standard HourSymphony Broadcasts, NBC, Pacific Music Camp, 1952-1961, Hollywood Bowl, 1954-1956.

Supervisor Merola Opera Program, San Francisco, 1957-1988. Guestcondr. San Carlo Opera, Naples, 1958. Founder artistic supervisor WesternOpera Theater, 1967-1988, Spring Opera Theater of San Francisco, 1961-1988, Brown Bag Opera, 1974-1988, Music Center Opera Association, Los Angeles, 1969.

Member professional committee Central Opera Service. Bd, directors National Opera Institute. Vice president board directors Opera American.

Member opera section advisory panel National Endowment for Arts.

Achievements

• Other innovations included the Merola Opera Program named after the founder of the San Francisco Opera, and "Opera in the Park", which, from 1971, has been an annual free concert in Golden Gate Park on the Sunday following opening night of the fall season. He was not always regarded as an easy person to work for, but his principal achievements in San Francisco were to greatly raise the standards of the opera company and "to attract a stunning galaxy of European stars, some at the beginning of their careers, to a small city at the other end of the world, often at significantly lower salaries than New York or Chicago would offer".

Connections

Married Diantha Warfel, July 7, 1940 (divorced December 1963). Children: Kristin Diantha, Ronald Huntington. Married Nancy Miller, August 23, 1965.

father:

Ernst Adler

mother:

Ida (Bauer) Adler

spouse:

Nancy Miller

spouse:

Diantha Warfel

child:

Kristin Diantha Adler

child:

Ronald Huntington Adler