- Born
- Died
- Birth nameKenneth DeWitt Schermerhorn
- Kenneth Schermerhorn was born on November 20, 1929 in Schenectady, New York, USA. He is known for Il Divo (2008), Breakfast with the Arts (1991) and The Nutcracker (1977). He was married to Hooker, Tish, Carol Neblett and Lupe Serrano. He died on April 18, 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
- SpousesHooker, Tish(1987 - ?) (divorced)Carol Neblett(1973 - ?) (divorced)Lupe Serrano(1957 - 1973) (divorced)
- Music director and conductor of the Nashville Symphony from 1983 until his death.
- Composed more than 50 choral, orchestra, and chamber works.
- He was appointed music director of the American Ballet Theatre when he was 28. He left in 1968, but returned in 1976 to conduct Mikhail Baryshnikov's famous production of "The Nutcracker", which was eventually televised in 1977. He returned to ABT again in 1982 at the request of artistic director Baryshnikov and stayed there for two more years.
- In the army, he was stationed in Germany, and there he got his first conducting job by chance. A general wanted to prove that the Americans were sophisticated, so he bragged that the US 7th Army had its own symphony orchestra. The next day an orchestra was hurriedly organized, with Schermerhorn put in charge of a group of soldiers who had studied at Juilliard, the New England Conservatory, and other top music schools.
- At age 14, he joined a dance band that played in nightclubs. He graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music, and played trumpet with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and other orchestras before being drafted into the army.
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