Basil Cameron

Basil Cameron (August 18, 1884 – June 26, 1975) was an English conductor.

He was born in Reading, Berkshire, England, the son of a German immigrant family. His birth name was Basil George Cameron Hindenberg. W.L. Jacob, "Hindenburg v. Cameron" (Letter to the Editor) (1991). "The Musical Times", 132 (1782), p. 382.] He took up the violin at age 8, and later studied for four years at the Berlin "Hochschule".W. McN. (full name not given), "Mr. Basil Cameron" (1 June 1931). "The Musical Times", 72 (1060): pp. 497-500.]

Hindenberg (as he still was) began his career on the violin, studying with Joseph Joachim and Leopold Auer. He then became a violinist in the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1912, he began conducting at the seaside resort of Torquay. In 1914, at the start of World War I, it was considered less than ideal in England to bear such a Germanic-sounding name as Hindenberg, so the family name was discreetly dropped and he adopted his third name Cameron as his professional surname. (Various sources have suggested that the name Hindenberg had initially been adopted because German-sounding conductors could find work more easily than English ones could. It has also been suggested that the name Cameron was his mother's maiden name. Both these claims are wrong. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/pda/A22917440?s_id=3&s_split=2 Basil Cameron - The Quiet Maestro] ] ) He led festivals of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss with the Torquay orchestra, which brought him to prominence in the English musical scene.

During World War I, Cameron served in the British army, from November 1915 to August 1918.. He had dropped the name "Hindenberg" professionally in September 1914 and took a break from his conducting career. After the war, Cameron led orchestras in many other British resorts. Laudatory reviews by George Bernard Shaw and Percy Grainger increased his renown.

In 1930 he guest-conducted with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and was later invited to become its music director, where from 1930 and 1932 he served as joint music director with Issay Dobrowen. In 1932 he moved to the Seattle Symphony.

In 1938, he returned to England, where he remained for the rest of his career. In 1940, he joined the conducting staff of the The Proms as an associate conductor to Henry Wood. He was appointed a Commander of the CBE in 1957. [Obituary for Basil Cameron, "The Musical Times", 116 (1590): p. 731.]

Cameron was married twice, first to Frances James, and second to Phyllis MacQueen.

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