Harry Wimmer

1925-2022

Harry Wimmer, cellist, conductor, and pedagogue, passed away peacefully in his Manhattan home on Friday, July 29th after a long illness. He was 96. His long career encompassed many forms of musical expression, ranging from performing and teaching classical music to authoring books, blogs, and a concert series that explored the broader meaning of music. Throughout it all, Mr. Wimmer was motivated by a profound love of music and a desire to instill that love in others.

Born in Vienna in 1925, Mr. Wimmer’s earliest musical studies were in piano and cello. He completed his professional training at the Juilliard School with Leonard Rose and gave his American debut with the Little Orchestra Society in New York. Other early solo performances included a premiere of the Bartok Cello Concerto in 1960, and seventeen years as first cellist and soloist with the Radio City Music Hall Symphony Orchestra. For several years, he also served as the cello soloist with New York’s Handel Society. In response to hearing a recording of a performance by Mr. Wimmer, Pablo Casals wrote to him “I like very much the feeling you put into the music.”

An avid chamber musician and coach, Mr. Wimmer performed at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., New York’s Town Hall, the Fontainebleau Conservatoire Américain, and the Sala Casals in Puerto Rico. He was on the chamber music faculty of the Aspen Music School for twelve years and served as Chamber Music Coordinator for both the Victoria International Music Festival and the Heifetz International Summer Music Institute. As cellist of the Sevenars Festival Trio, he performed at the festival for six summers in Worthington, Massachusetts.

As a conductor, Mr. Wimmer founded the Aspen String Ensemble which performed with such guest artists as Itzhak Perlman, Jan de Gaetani, and Sir Michael Tippett. In 1991, he toured throughout Puerto Rico with the Youth Chamber Orchestra of the Americas, and for six summers conducted the string orchestra at the JISA International Festival in Victoria, B.C.

During his career, Mr. Wimmer also enjoyed frequent crossovers into popular and jazz genres, which he said “broadened his horizons enormously.” He toured and recorded with many of the well-known artists of his time, including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Lionel Hampton, and Paul McCartney. In the 1970’s, Mr. Wimmer invented a fiberglass electric cello capable of electronically mixed tonal effects which he employed in many recording sessions.

In 1954, Mr. Wimmer married the violinist and pedagogue Shirley Givens, who became his life-long musical collaborator. Together, they published a successful string teaching method for young children, entitled “Adventures in Violinland” and “Adventures in Cello Country.” In addition to their positions as tenured faculty at the Aspen Music Festival, they performed and taught internationally at the Aguascalientes Mexico Cultural Tour; AUSTA Celebration in Melbourne and Sydney; Festival Casals in Puerto Rico; and the InterHarmony Festival in Germany and Italy.

Mr. Wimmer often sought broader ways of sharing his musical ideas beyond the studio. In 1986, he published the six-volume instructional series The Joy of Cello Playing, intended to help players of all levels enhance musical expression through improved technique. His CelloBlog promoted similar ideas with musings about his professional experiences and unusual musical encounters. In 2005, he debuted what became a seven-year cello performance project entitled “From Soup to Nuts” at New York’s Thalia Theater. In these concerts, Mr. Wimmer expanded the boundaries of the traditional recital by means of humorous sketches, imaginary interviews, and a wide variety of musical styles.

Mr. Wimmer is survived by his children Tiana and Kevin Wimmer, and grandchildren Alice Leiden and Malcolm Wimmer. A memorial service is planned in New York for October, 2022.