Arnold Volpe

Arnold was born Aaron-David Levy-Itzkovich Volpe in Kaunas, Kovno Governorate, Russian Empire on July 9, 1869.

[7] After a brief tour, at the suggestion of Rubinstein he returned to the conservatory and engaged in a deeper study of harmony and counterpoint with Nicolai Soloviev which lasted until 1897 when he graduated as a composer.

[11] After Seligman died in a car accident in June 1912, a large donation of funds and his musical instrument collection passed on to the orchestra.

[9] At around that time, Volpe was advocating for more venues for sophisticated music for a broad audience, noting that popular tastes were changing.

[13] At first, Volpe was not worried, but as conditions deteriorated he retreated to London where the family sailed back to the United States.

[16] Rather than playing the type of stirring patriotic and popular music common to outdoor concerts, Volpe's idea was to present a more challenging programme of Classical and Operatic works to a broad audience.

[21][1] A generous memorial fund was also set up in his name in 1940, to be administered by the university and a panel of musicians including Mischa Elman and Serge Koussevitzky[22] The fund's mandate included the support of musical events at the university and the creation of a new building in the music department, the Arnold Volpe Building.