Walter Homburger (1924-2019)

2010 Lifetime Artistic Achievement (Classical Music)

Orchestra manager, impresario and artist manager

Orchestra manager, consultant, impresario and artist manager, Walter Homburger has been a driving force in the development of orchestras and classical music in Canada for over half a century. He has promoted a succession of extraordinary artists (including Glenn Gould, Victor Braun, Jan Rubes, Louis Lortie, and
James Ehnes), and his unrivalled 25-year term as managing director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) set new standards for orchestra management in Canada and became a model for following generations of music directors and managers.

Mr. Homburger was born in Germany in 1924 and moved to Canada in 1940. He quickly became involved in presenting international classical music artists to Toronto audiences. As head of International Artists Concert Agency, which he founded in 1947, he established an annual recital series featuring outstanding singers and instrumentalists from around the world, including Louis Armstrong, Victor Borge, Van Cliburn, Duke Ellington, Kathleen Ferrier, Vladimir Horowitz, Luciano Pavarotti, ltzhak Perlman, Andrés Segovia, Isaac Stern, Joan Sutherland, and Pinchas Zukerman.

He became managing director of the TSO in 1962, and over the next 25 years he guided the orchestra with a decisive blend of shrewdness and caution that kept growth constant and attendance strong through years of economic challenge. Under his leadership the TSO became a major artistic force among international symphony orchestras, attracting the great conductors and soloists of the era. Mr. Homburger's retirement in 1987 was the occasion of a special concert in his honour at Roy Thomson Hall; this "Great Gathering" of international musicians was broadcast on CBC Radio and TV, and netted over $2.3 million for the Toronto Symphony Foundation.

After his retirement he continued to contribute to the Canadian classical music scene by presenting artists in solo recitals, managing young Canadian artists, and advising several different musical organizations.

Awards and honours include Member of the Order of Canada (1984); Queen's Jubilee Medal (2002); Canadian Music Council Medal (1987); first Canadian to receive the Louis Sudler Award (1984) from the American Symphony Orchestra League.