Hugo Weisgall Oral History

Hugo Weisgall was a conductor and composer known primarily for his contributions to opera, vocal music composition and his large-scale cycle songs reflecting Judaic and western literature themes. Born in Ivančice, Moravia, on October 13, 1912, he emigrated with his parents to Baltimore in 1920. Weisgall studied at the Peabody Institute and the Curtis Institute of Music, eventually earning a Ph.D. in German literature at Johns Hopkins University. During World War II, he served as an assistant military attaché to General S. Patton during World War II. After the war, Weisgall founded and directed the Chamber Society of Baltimore and the Hilltop Opera Company. Along with teaching at Johns Hopkins University, the Juilliard School and being involved with instructional outreach programs at Lincoln Center, Weisgall also joined the Queens College faculty in 1961—brought in by Leo Kraft—and retired in 1983 as Distinguished Professor of Music. His greatest ongoing project, and dearest to his heart, was his forty-four-year involvement with the Jewish Theological seminary. Weisgall died in Great Neck, Long Island, on March 11, 1997.

Laura Leon is a pianist recognized for her performances and recordings of a wide array of American composers, including Peter Schickele, Eric Ewazen, Leo Kraft, Hugo Weisgall, William Bolcom, Steven Rosenhaus, Norman Dello Joio, Morton Gould, and Mark Isham.

She is a Queens College Alumnus and graduated with her BA in Music in 1976 and her Masters in Piano Performances in 1978. She met Hugo Weisgall on campus at Queens College and subsequently interviewed him for her dissertation at the Teacher's College, Columbia University.