David Katz was born June 28, 1924 in Indiana, he graduated from Julliard School of Music and moved to Forest Hills, Queens with his wife Jeanne. They started the Queens Symphony Orchestra (QSO) in 1953 [1]. David conducted the orchestra until he died of cancer 1987. During the 1970’s the orchestra joined the union and became the first and only professional orchestra in Queens. At this time, QSO was affiliated with the American Symphony Orchestra League and Forest Hills Community Center. David Katz was discovered by Leopold Stokowski who he joined as associate conductor of The American Symphony Orchestra (ASO). Katz conducted the ASO at Carnegie Hall form 1961 till 1970. He also conducted the Oratorio Society of Queens from 1968 to 1969 succeeding Lawrence Rasmussen [2]. David also conducted the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in 1971 [3]. By QSO’s second season, children’s concerts were added to the schedule and this lead to David and Jeannie starting the Music BAG Program (Music for Boys and Girls). This program was designed to get kids involved with making music with the orchestra and learning the history and theory of music. By the 1970’s, the BAG Program was reaching over 17,000 school children annually throughout Queens [4]. In 1969 David and his wife Jeanne Dale Katz founded Long Lake Camp. A summer camp in Long Lake New York. The camp focuses on the fine and performing arts. Today, David Katz's son, Marc Katz and wife Susan operate the camp [5]. David and Jeanne have 4 children: Mathew, Michael, Marc and Melinda. Jeannie Katz also founded the Queens Council on the Arts in 1966 which helps promote and develop the arts in the county of Queens, New York [6]. "In recognition of his work with the orchestra, David Katz received the Mayor's Award of Honor for Arts and Culture from Mayor Ed Koch in 1982. 'David Katz contributed greatly to the cultural life and vitality of the borough.' Said Borough President Claire Shulman of Queens (from 1986 - 2002)." [7]
1^ http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/22/obituaries/david-katz-62-a-conductor-founded-queens-symphony.html?scp=2&sq=DAVID%20KATZ&st=cse 2^ http://queensoratorio.org/osqhistory.html 3^ http://colorkatz.com/ 4^ http://www.queenssymphony.org/history.asp 5^ http://www.longlakecamp.com/performing-arts-camp.html 6^ http://queenscouncilarts.org/about-us/