Felix Khuner
Encyclopedia
Felix Khuner was the second violinist of the Kolisch Quartet
. He joined the quartet, then the Wien Quartet, in 1927 when the quartet needed a new second violinist. Khuner was reluctant, but when he visited Rudolf Kolisch
, he was in conversation with Arnold Schoenberg
. "Does the quartet rehearse with Schoenberg?" Khuner asked. When Kolisch answered yes, Khuner agreed to join the quartet.
Upon the quartet's visit to Berkeley, California in the mid 1930s, Khuner chose Berkeley as the ideal place to live. He liked the cool Mediterranean climate. He met his future wife, Gertrude, in New York, and they wed in California in 1942.
Months before he was too old for the draft, Khuner was drafted in to the US Army. He served first as a musician, and was later sent to New Guinea.
After leaving the Army, he continued playing in the first violin section of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and in the San Francisco Opera and in the orchestra of the San Francisco Ballet. After he retired from the San Francisco Symphony, Khuner did one more stint, joining them for their 1972 tour of Russia. He retired from the San Francisco Opera, which did not have a mandatory retirement age, a few years later.
In the 1970s, Khuner was an instructor in the music department of the University of California
, teaching chamber music. He was also concert master of the Monterey Symphony in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Khuner always had private violin students, giving lessons in his home in the Berkeley hills.
He also performed regularly with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra conducted by Edgar Braun.
He gave his last violin lesson just a few days before he died of lung cancer in June, 1991. He was survived by his wife of 49 years, Gertrude Khuner, four children, and four grandchildren.
Kolisch Quartet
The Kolisch Quartet was a string quartet musical ensemble founded in Vienna, originally as the New Vienna String Quartet for the performance of Schoenberg's works, and settling to the form in which it was later known. It had a worldwide reputation and made several recordings...
. He joined the quartet, then the Wien Quartet, in 1927 when the quartet needed a new second violinist. Khuner was reluctant, but when he visited Rudolf Kolisch
Rudolf Kolisch
Rudolf Kolisch was a Viennese violinist and leader of string quartets, including the Kolisch Quartet and the Pro Arte Quartet. He played a right-handed violin left-handed—an extremely rare occurrence in classical music settings....
, he was in conversation with Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
. "Does the quartet rehearse with Schoenberg?" Khuner asked. When Kolisch answered yes, Khuner agreed to join the quartet.
Upon the quartet's visit to Berkeley, California in the mid 1930s, Khuner chose Berkeley as the ideal place to live. He liked the cool Mediterranean climate. He met his future wife, Gertrude, in New York, and they wed in California in 1942.
Months before he was too old for the draft, Khuner was drafted in to the US Army. He served first as a musician, and was later sent to New Guinea.
After leaving the Army, he continued playing in the first violin section of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and in the San Francisco Opera and in the orchestra of the San Francisco Ballet. After he retired from the San Francisco Symphony, Khuner did one more stint, joining them for their 1972 tour of Russia. He retired from the San Francisco Opera, which did not have a mandatory retirement age, a few years later.
In the 1970s, Khuner was an instructor in the music department of the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, teaching chamber music. He was also concert master of the Monterey Symphony in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Khuner always had private violin students, giving lessons in his home in the Berkeley hills.
He also performed regularly with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra conducted by Edgar Braun.
He gave his last violin lesson just a few days before he died of lung cancer in June, 1991. He was survived by his wife of 49 years, Gertrude Khuner, four children, and four grandchildren.