Gabriel Banat is an American violinist who played for many years with the New York Philarmonic. He was born in Transylvania, Romania in 1926, eventually moving to Hungary. At the age of eight, he was discovered by Béla Bartók, who enabled him to...
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Gabriel Banat is an American violinist who played for many years with the New York Philarmonic. He was born in Transylvania, Romania in 1926, eventually moving to Hungary. At the age of eight, he was discovered by Béla Bartók, who enabled him to be accepted at the Royal Academy in Budapest (now the Franz Liszt Academy of Music), where he won honors. In 1946 he moved to New York City where he toured with Georges Enesco, his mentor. He became a naturalized citizen in 1953. He toured in the United States, Europe and Japan, and was guest soloist with the London Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, among others. In 1970 he joined the New York Philharmonic. He was a professor at Smith College where he led the violin department. He also conducted various ensembles and organizations during his career. His research on Mozart led to publication in facsimile of Mozart's five violin concertos (Raven Press, 1986). His research on the Chevalier de Saint-Georges led to a biography (Pendragon Press, 2006) as well as numerous articles. He also edited the series "Masters of the Violin" (1981-1982). The Gabriel Banat papers document the performing career and editing/writing activities of violinist Gabriel Banat through correspondence, programs, reviews, and photographs.
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