Calvin Sieb

Calvin Robert[1] Sieb (30 May 1925 – 21 May 2007) was an American-born Canadian classical violinist who was the concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (1959/1960–79) and the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse (1979–89), and also played as a soloist.

[5] In 1950, he went to France where he was taught by the violinist Jacques Thibaud (1950–51), and also briefly studied composition and aesthetics with Nadia Boulanger at Fontainebleau's Conservatoire américain (1950).

[16] Other major conductors with whom Sieb played as a soloist include Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Monteux, Eugene Ormandy, Malcolm Sargent and Georg Solti.

[7] Towards the end of his career, Sieb guest conducted and performed chamber music and concertos with Ottawa ensembles, such as Thirteen Strings.

[2] During his retirement, he taught at the Conservatoire de musique of Gatineau, Quebec,[1] and continued to perform locally and give masterclasses until the end of his life.

[13] Siskind, in a 1991 review for the Ottawa Citizen, particularly highlights his playing of "The Bird of Dawning" by the 20th-century Canadian composer Jean Coulthard, writing that Sieb's sound had a "marvellous clarity and freedom... soaring effortlessly above that of the orchestra", as well as of Stravinsky's Violin Concerto, considering that he developed "robust string tone... strong, yet never harsh.

[26] Frances Goltman, in a Gazette review of his 1963 performance of this concerto, considers him to have an "affinity for Mozart", highlighting his "easy bowing and delicate phrasing" and "keen sense of styling.

"[27] McLean describes his 1969 performance of Mozart's Violin Concerto in D major as "nicely paced and always phrased in a meaningful way" but notes some initial "nervous sharpness".

[28] Richard Todd, in a 1996 review for the same newspaper of a duo with Zhanna Gumenyuk, describes Sieb's performance as "idiomatic and spirited" in a Mozart sonata, and having "panache and passion" in one by Prokofiev.