About Walter Damrosch
Walter Johannes Damrosch was a Prussian-born American conductor and composer. He was the director of the New York Symphony Orchestra and conducted the world premiere performances of various works, including Aaron Copland's Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F and An American in Paris, and Jean Sibelius' Tapiola. Damrosch was also instrumental in the founding of Carnegie Hall. He also conducted the first performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the composer himself as soloist. Damrosch was best known in his day as a conductor of the music of Richard Wagner, and in 1894 he founded the Damrosch Opera Company for producing Wagner's works. His brother Frank Damrosch became a music conductor and sister Clara Mannes a music teacher.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.