Harvey Shapiro was a New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

-born American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 cellist of world renown.

Childhood and early career

Harvey Shapiro, of Russian parentage, was born in New York City. His first cello teacher was Willem Willeke (1880–1950), who was both a medical doctor and a well-known cellist of the early 20th century. Willeke was the principal cello teacher at the Institute of Musical Art, which merged with Juilliard in 1926. Shapiro also studied with Diran Alexanian

Diran Alexanian

Diran Alexanian was an Armenian cello teacher. He studied cello with Friedrich Grützmacher in Leipzig, as well as played chamber music with Johannes Brahms and violinist Joseph Joachim...

, who was both a pupil and partner in teaching with Pablo Casals

Pablo Casals

Pau Casals i Defilló , known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time...

. Shapiro was a winner of the highly regarded Loeb and Naumburg Prize. In 1937 he joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra

NBC Symphony Orchestra

The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...

 under Arturo Toscanini

Arturo Toscanini

Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...

, and from 1944 to 1946 he served as principal cellist.

In 1938 or 1939, at the invitation of NBC, he, Oscar Shumsky

Oscar Shumsky

Oscar Shumsky was an American violinist and conductor born to Russian-Jewish parents.-Biography:...

, Josef Gingold

Josef Gingold

Josef Gingold was a Russian-Jewish-born classical violinist and teacher, who lived most of his life in the United States...

 and William Primrose

William Primrose

William Primrose CBE was a Scottish violist and teacher.-Biography:Primrose was born in Glasgow and studied violin initially. In 1919 he moved to study at the then Guildhall School of Music in London. On the urging of the accompanist Ivor Newton, Primrose moved to Belgium to study under Eugène...

 founded what became called the Primrose String Quartet, considered to be one of the finest quartets of its time. He and the Primrose Quartet along with Emanuel Feuermann

Emanuel Feuermann

Emanuel Feuermann was an internationally celebrated cellist in the first half of the 20th century.-Biography:...

, another famous cellist, gave historic performances of the Schubert

Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

 Quintet

String Quintet (Schubert)

The String Quintet in C major, D. 956, op. posth. 163, is a piece of chamber music written by Franz Schubert. It was composed during the summer of 1828, two months before his death, and is Schubert's final chamber work. The Quintet was first performed on 17 November 1850 at the Musikverein in...

.

From 1947 to 1963 Shapiro performed with the WQXR Radio Quartet. He recorded as soloist with Victor Records, Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

, US Decca Records

Decca Records

Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

 and Nonesuch Records

Nonesuch Records

Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...

.

Later life and career

In 1970, on recommendation of Leonard Rose

Leonard Rose

Leonard Rose was an American cellist and pedagogue.Rose was born in Washington, D.C., his parents were immigrants from Kiev, Ukraine...

, he became professor of cello at the Juilliard School

Juilliard School

The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

in New York, a position he held for more than thirty years. Many of his students have gone on to become famous cellists in their own right. In 1991 he was nominated as "Best Teacher of the Year" at Juilliard, and he was awarded the Schatzer Award.

He remained an active teacher into his 90s. In March 1998 he gave a very well-received recital at the Prince Regent Theatre in Munich, Germany.
He continued to give master classes in Europe, notably in Salzburg, Vienna, Engelberg and Florence until 2006.

He died in New York on October 25, 2007.

Discography

Harvey Shapiro Recital in Japan. DiscArt DACD-973.

The Art of Nathan Milstein. EMI Classics.

Primrose Quartet (works by Haydn, Schumann, Smetana, Brahms and Tchaikovsky). Biddulph Records.

Out of print:

Dmitri Shostakovich and Richard Strauss cello sonatas, Harvey Shapiro, cello and Jascha Zayde, piano. Nonesuch LP record, H-71050

Luigi Boccherini, String Quintets Op. 13 No. 5 in E, Op. 20 No. 4 in F, Op. 37 No. 2 in g, the Stradivari Quartet with Harvey Shapiro, 2nd cello. Musical Heritage Society LP record, MHS 645

Luigi Boccherini, String Quintets Op. 37 No. 1 in C, Quintet in C, Op. 47 No. 1 in a, the Stradivari Quartet with Harvey Shapiro, 2nd cello. Musical Heritage Society LP record, MHS 694

Haydn, Symphony No. 95 in c (with cello solo in the trio), Fritz Reiner and "His Symphony Orchestra", Harvey Shapiro, cello. RCA LSC-2742/LM-2742. [1964]

Hindemith: Eight Pieces for String Quartet, Radio Artists String Quartet (Harold Glickman, Hugo Fiorato, violins, Jack Braunstein, viola, Harvey Shapiro, cello). Circle Records LP record L-51-100. [1951]