Who Was Felix Galimir?

Nathan Cole, Felix Galimir, Tina Qu in CAMI Hall, NYC

Felix Galimir is flanked by his two students, Nathan Cole and Tina Qu. Late December 1998, CAMI Hall, New York City. A particularly awkward time for Nathan, it seems.

The name Felix Galimir brings an automatic smile to the face of anyone who knew him. That includes every single musician who passed through Vermont's Marlboro Festival between 1952 and 1999. It also includes every participant of the New York String Seminar until 1998. Also students at Curtis, Juilliard and Mannes between the '60s and the '90s. In short, it's hard to find very many chamber musicians who were not touched by him in some way. And although his name prompts a smile, it just as often prompts a look of awe: to this day, it is hard to believe the raw emotion that emanated from the diminutive man (as a point of reference in the above picture, I am 5'7"!). When he showed love, it melted your heart. When something upset him, he was a force of nature. And my history with him only began in 1994 at the New York String Seminar, when he was already 84 years old! But my most meaningful period with Mr. Galimir started in 1996, when I became his student at Curtis. Go back and read about our time together!