Edgar Ortenberg was a violinist in the Budapest String Quartet and taught violin at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Born Eleazar Ortenberg in Odessa

Odessa

Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...

, his teachers included Naoum Blinder

Naoum Blinder

Naoum Blinder was a Russian-American virtuoso violinist and teacher, born in Yevpatoria .-Early life and education:...

 at the Odessa Conservatory and Jacques Thibaud

Jacques Thibaud

Jacques Thibaud was a French violinist.Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won the conservatory's violin prize with Pierre Monteux...

 in Paris. He was concertmaster of the Odessa Opera Orchestra. In 1926 he adopted the first name "Edgar" and formed the Berlin String Quartet.

In 1933 he moved to Paris, and in 1940, to New York, where he played for the WQXR Orchestra. He played for the Budapest String Quartet as its second violinist from 1944 to 1949. He then moved to Philadelphia where he taught violin at the Settlement Music School until 1988. He died on May 16, 1996.

Sources

• Allan Kozinn, "Edgar Ortenberg, 96, A Violinist Faithful To His Instrument", New York TImes, May 18, 1996,