Josef Pasternack

Josef Alexander Pasternack was a well-known conductor and composer in the first half of the 20th century.

He was born in Częstochowa, Poland in 1880, the eldest son of Sigmund and Dora Pasternack. He had two younger brothers, Samuel and David. His father and grandfather had been bandmasters in Poland and he began the study of the violin at age four, under his father's tutelage. At age ten he entered the Warsaw Conservatory of Music, where he initially studied piano and composition. He also took up the study of a new instrument each month, so that by the time he left the Conservatory he could play every instrument in the orchestra except the harp.

At age 15 he came to the United States with his two brothers and father. Initially he worked in a hotel restaurant as a busboy. One day when the violin player for the hotel band did not come to work he informed the bandleader that he was capable of filling in. He ran home and got his vioin and returned to play. The regular violinst was not allowed to return. Shortly thereafter he was able to convince the band leader to permit his brothers to try out and so began their musical careers in America. Shortly thereafte he toured the country as a concert pianist. In 1902 he was hired as violinist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York and then became first viola player, continuing until 1909. His ability came to the attention of the famed Arturo Toscanini, who had become Conductor at the Metropolitan in 1908, and Pasternack was made Assistant Conductor in 1909, a position he filled for one year.

In 1911 he returned to Europe as Conductor of the Bremen Opera, but the Metropolitan asked for his release and he returned to the Met as a Conductor for 1911-13. During the period 1913-26, he was Conductor of the Century Opera Company in New York, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Philharmonic Society. While at the Philadelphia Philharmonic he introduced Marian Anderson as the first African-American singer to perform there. Starting in 1916 he also was Musical Director of the Victor Talking Machine Company (later RCA Victor), where likewise he introduced Marian Anderson, and the Stanley Company of America, owned by Warner Brothers. In his role at Victor and with several orchestras he made recordings and conducted programs for many famous singers of the day, most notably Enrico Caruso, and directed many of the famous musicians of the day, including Fritz Kreisler and Jascha Heifetz. From 1928 until his death in 1940 he conducted orchestras for NBC in the days of live radio, including a show with Nelson Eddy and the Carnation Contented Hour. He composed songs and music for motion pictures and radio, and wrote the lyrics for Taps.

He was married in 1904 to Helen Feirman, and had two daughters, Florence and Cecile.