Josiah Zuro
Encyclopedia
Josiah Zuro was a pianist, conductor and film composer.
before immigrating to the US in April 1906.
's company. He was also musical director at several New York theatres. He directed grand opera in San Francisco in 1915 while the World's Fair was being held there.
characterized the Sunday performances as a "ministry of music," adding that "this service, religious in character, rises to a plane of dignity and beauty which makes musicians priests of the loveliest of arts." Zuro also organized a New York opera company of his own, known as the Zuro Opera Company, and made several tours. In the summer of 1925 he managed a free municipal opera project, producing three open-air operas in Ebbets Field
, Brooklyn, before large crowds.
Studios' movies, among them Holiday (1930 film)
, The King of Kings, High Voltage
and The Covered Wagon
. He was chosen in 1929 to supervise the movie production of seven grand operas.
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Zuro died in an ambulance on the way to Scripps Memorial Hospital at La Jolla, near San Diego, on Saturday night, Oct 18, 1930, having been injured when the car he was driving left the highway and overturned on Torrey Pines Road north of San Diego. He was 42 years old. The film composer Oscar Potoker
was a passenger and was injured but survived. Zuro and Potoker had both lived in the same building, 8439 Sunset Blvd, Hacienda Arms Apartments
, according to the 1930 US census. Funeral services for Zuro were held at the Glasbaud & Groman Mortuary in Los Angeles; the body was taken to New York for burial by train the following day. Josiah Zuro is interred in Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Queens, New York, Block C, Section 15.
Early life
Josiah Zuro was the son of Louis Zuro, a Russian immigrant who became a producer of opera and Josiah's collaborator, and Leah Zuro. Josiah studied music at the conservatory in OdessaOdessa
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,...
before immigrating to the US in April 1906.
Conductor
Zuro directed orchestras and opera companies in New York and Boston. He was assistant conductor at the Manhattan Opera House in Oscar Hammerstein IOscar Hammerstein I
Oscar Hammerstein I was a businessman, theater impresario and composer in New York City. His passion for opera led him to open several opera houses, and he rekindled opera's popularity in America...
's company. He was also musical director at several New York theatres. He directed grand opera in San Francisco in 1915 while the World's Fair was being held there.
Free Concerts
Zuro was widely known in New York for his efforts to bring classical music to the public at nominal charge and for his aid to young American musicians who found it difficult to get a hearing in public. For several seasons he conducted free Sunday concerts at New York theatres, organizing in 1924 the Sunday Symphony Society. Zuro himself directed an orchestra of sixty-four musicians and rehearsed the soloists who were to appear each week. His idea of giving the concerts on Sunday was to provide a closer tie between music and religion, and each performance was accompanied by a speech by some person prominent in public life, usually a minister. In 1924 John Haynes HolmesJohn Haynes Holmes
John Haynes Holmes was a prominent Unitarian minister and pacifist, noted for his anti-war activism.-Early years:John Haynes Holmes was born in Philadelphia on November 29, 1879. He studied at Harvard, graduating in 1902, and Harvard Divinity School, which he graduated in 1904. He was then called...
characterized the Sunday performances as a "ministry of music," adding that "this service, religious in character, rises to a plane of dignity and beauty which makes musicians priests of the loveliest of arts." Zuro also organized a New York opera company of his own, known as the Zuro Opera Company, and made several tours. In the summer of 1925 he managed a free municipal opera project, producing three open-air operas in Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball park located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on a city block which is now considered to be part of the Crown Heights neighborhood. It was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. It was also a venue for professional football...
, Brooklyn, before large crowds.
Film Composer
In 1928 Zuro moved to Hollywood to compose for PathéPathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
Studios' movies, among them Holiday (1930 film)
Holiday (1930 film)
Holiday is a 1930 romantic comedy film which tells the story of a young man who is torn between his free-thinking lifestyle and the tradition of his wealthy fiancée's family. It stars Ann Harding, Mary Astor, Edward Everett Horton, Robert Ames and Hedda Hopper...
, The King of Kings, High Voltage
High Voltage (1929 film)
High Voltage is an American film, released by Pathé and directed by Howard Higgin.The film stars William Boyd, Carol Lombard, Diane Ellis, Owen Moore, Phillips Smalley, and Billy Bevan....
and The Covered Wagon
The Covered Wagon
The Covered Wagon is an American silent Western film released by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by James Cruze based on a novel by Emerson Hough about a group of pioneers traveling through the old West from Kansas to Oregon. J...
. He was chosen in 1929 to supervise the movie production of seven grand operas.
Death
Oscar Potoker
Oscar Potoker was a musician and film composer.-Early life:In Russia, Potoker composed chamber works based on Jewish folk music...
was a passenger and was injured but survived. Zuro and Potoker had both lived in the same building, 8439 Sunset Blvd, Hacienda Arms Apartments
Hacienda Arms Apartments
Hacienda Arms Apartments, also known as Coronet Apartments and Piazza del Sol, is a historic building located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. The four-story, Italian Renaissance Revival sourced Mediterranean Revival style structure was built in 1927 and operated initially as a...
, according to the 1930 US census. Funeral services for Zuro were held at the Glasbaud & Groman Mortuary in Los Angeles; the body was taken to New York for burial by train the following day. Josiah Zuro is interred in Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Queens, New York, Block C, Section 15.