Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Biography
Scope and Content
Descriptive Summary
Title: Naoum and Eugenia Blinder Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1909-1988
Collection number: ARCHIVES BLINDER 1
Creator: Blinder, Naoum, 1889-1965
Extent: Number of containers: 1 carton, 1 oversize folder
Linear
feet: 1.25
Repository: The
Music Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Acquisition
The papers were given to the Music Library in three installments--September, 1981;
October, 1981; and August, 1989.
Provenance
The first two installments of the Blinder Papers were from Mrs. Eugene Blinder; the last
installment from the estate of Mrs. Eugene Blinder via the San Francisco Symphony.
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in
writing to the Head of The Music Library.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Naoum and Eugenia Blinder Papers, ARCHIVES BLINDER 1, The Music
Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Biography
Naoum Blinder, violinist and teacher, was born in Lutsk, Russia in 1889. He graduated
from the Imperial Conservatory of Odessa at 14, where he studied with Alexander Fiedeman.
From 1910 to 1913, he attended the Royal Manchester College of Music, where he studied
with Adolph Brodsky. After graduation, he took up a teaching post at his alma mater, the
Imperial Conservatory of Odessa, and remained there until 1920.
Blinder embarked on a concert tour in 1921. He gave concerts in the Ukraine, Turkestan,
Leningrad, Moscow, and other cities. In 1926, Blinder went on a more extensive tour which
included the Republic of Turkey, and Palestine, and returned to Russia by way of Siberia
in January of 1927.
In 1928 Blinder (later joined by his wife and daughter) went on a concert tour in Japan
which included 7 concerts in Tokyo alone, and 23 concerts in other cities of Japan.
Instead of returning to Russia, he went to the United States (via Honolulu and San
Francisco) to record for Columbia Records in New York. The Blinders remained in New York;
Naoum taught at the Juilliard School between 1929 and 1931. It was around this time that
his only daughter contracted tuberculosis and died at 13 years of age.
At the invitation of Issay Dobroven, Blinder accepted the concertmaster position at the
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, where he played under Pierre Monteux and Enrique Jorda
in addition to Dobroven. Blinder remained with the orchestra until 1957, when his failing
eyesight forced him to retire. During his years with the SFSO, he was soloist with many
orchestras around the country. He was one of the founders of the San Francisco String
Quartet (1935), which was comprised of members of the orchestra, including his cellist
brother, Boris.
Blinder was a dedicated teacher as well. His most noted student was Isaac Stern. At one
time, he had 17 students in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and all the members of
the first violin section of the Oakland Symphony Orchestra were Blinder students as well.
Other noted students were David Abel, Austin Reller, and Glenn Dicterow, who was the
concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. Blinder died on November 21, 1965, of heart
failure. He was 76 years old.
Scope and Content
This collection contains materials for both Naoum and Eugenia Blinder; however, the
majority of the materials concerns Naoum and his concert career. The types of materials
include newspaper clippings of concert reviews, concert programs and posters, photographs
of many professional musicians of his day, biographical documents such as naturalization
papers, and a concert tape. The collection also includes photocopies of Blinder materials
presently held at the American Jewish Archives. Some of the materials are duplicates of
our holdings.
The materials are largely acquired in three installments. Two portions were acquired in
the fall of 1981, donated by Eugenia Blinder. Eugenia Blinder left the San Francisco
Symphony Orchestra her estate at her death in 1989. The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
subsequently donated more papers to the Music Library in August, 1989. (See Series I,
folder 1 for more information.)
Numerous items have received conservation treatment. Newspaper clippings have been
photocopied onto acid-free paper, scrapbooks are also dismantled and photocopied (though
the original order was retained), photographs were also treated, and some items were
encapsulated.