Simeon Bellison
{{Short description|American clarinetist and composer}}
Simeon Bellison (September 4, 1881{{cite web |last=Leeson|first=Dan |title=Biography of Simeon Bellison |url=http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Study/Bellison.html |access-date=6 September 2012}} – May 4, 1953), born in Moscow, was a clarinetist and composer. He became a naturalised American after settling in the US in 1921. Bellison established an early clarinet choir (including women) in the United States; from an initial eight members, the group's size grew by 1948 to 75 members. Bellison was later the first clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic. The Philharmonic's online archive contains papers related to Bellison's leadership of his Philharmonic-sponsored clarinet ensemble, including various clarinets owned by the Philharmonic for the group's use, insurance policies, and sale of many of these in 1943.{{cite web |url=http://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/a8c23d65-f935-46e8-9f03-74286d1f17b6/fullview#page/157/mode/1up |title=Committee on Ensemble Musical Training and Scholarships; Instrument Insurance, Sep 24, 1930 - Oct 18, 1943 (ID: 003-02-31) |work=New York Philharmonic Archives: Viewer |access-date=23 November 2024}}
In addition to some hundred works for clarinet, Bellison wrote a novel, "Jivoglot," (Eat 'em Alive), based on the life of poor and obscure musicians in historic Russia.{{cite web |title=Biography of Simeon Bellison |url=http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Study/Bellison.html |website=www.woodwind.org |access-date=23 November 2024}}
Death
Bellison died in New York City in 1953.
References
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- Recordings of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, Concert Rondo and Beethoven's Don Giovanni Variations re-released on the Grenadillamusic.com label
- William G. King, The Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York, New York 1940
- Pamela Weston, More Clarinet Virtuosi of the Past, pp. 45–46, {{ISBN|0-9506259-1-4}}, Fentone Music Limited 1982
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Category:Jews from the Russian Empire
Category:American classical clarinetists
Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Category:Soviet emigrants to the United States
Category:20th-century American classical musicians
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