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OBITUARY: Sydney Fixman
Innovative musician who co-founded the Jewish Youth Orchestra – Born April 5, 1932. Died May 9, 2016
November 16, 2016 15:23
By, Anonymous
3 min read
Innovative musician who co-founded the Jewish Youth Orchestra – Born April 5, 1932. Died May 9, 2016
November 16, 2016 15:23ByAnonymous, Anonymous
Sydney Monty Fixman, who has died aged 84, was one of the leading authorities and performers of Jewish liturgical music. A revered musician and born teacher and communicator, he was motivated by artistic interpretation and passionate idealism.
A kind, modest and quintessentially English gentleman with a dry sense of humour and a formidable intellect, Fixman was born in Newton Heath, Manchester, the younger son of Lazer Aaron Fixman, a tailor by trade, and Ella Laddin. Lazer had arrived in England in late 1912 from Latvia with his father, Leib and four sisters (leaving behind an already married brother and sister in Leningrad.) They owned a haberdashery shop in Manchester and were a close-knit religious Yiddish speaking family. Jack, Sydney’s older brother was born in 1926.
Educated locally, Fixman also attended Reverend Balkind ‘s legendary yeshiva that gave him his traditional grounding in Jewish liturgy. He took up the violin at the relatively late age of ten, but he won a scholarship to study violin at the Royal Manchester College of Music, at a significant time for Manchester, which was emerging as a new force in British contemporary music. In 1950 he was called up for National Service. He was assigned to the Royal Corp of Signals and after basic training joined the Band of the Royal Corp and toured the country entertaining both civilian and serving personal. As a consequence he always held British military music in the highest regard.
After National Service Fixman won a further scholarship to the Guildhall School of Drama and Music, studying violin under Max Rostal and conducting under Norman del Mar. He soon realised that conducting was his vocation and rarely played the violin again.
After graduating, Fixman joined EMI, based at Abbey Road Studios, as a music editor. He also began to pursue his own conducting career. In 1958 he was asked to form the Ben Uri Chamber Orchestra, the first Jewish professional orchestra outside Israel. It appeared regularly at the South Bank performing contemporary works, pieces by Jewish composers or of Jewish interest, alongside the standard chamber repertoire.
Throughout his career Fixman appeared with leading British orchestras and chamber orchestras at major concert venues including the Royal Festival Hall and gave concerts with world artists, including Yehudi Menuhin. He also guest conducted abroad and took part in music festivals. A university lecturer, he advised on and conducted music for the BBC and Channel 4.
While still a student Fixman became choirmaster at the Great Synagogue until it closed in 1958. He was then appointed choirmaster at Willesden Synagogue before moving to St John’s Wood United Synagogue. In 1960 he married Pamela
Berg who was working in the arts department of the BBC. In 1968 he was appointed Director of Music at West London Synagogue. This enabled him to work with professional choristers, present the extensive tradition of European synagogue choral music and to introduce new works by more contemporary Jewish composers. He held this music in high regard and strove to attain the spirituality contained within it at every religious service or ceremony. On his appointment at WLS he introduced more traditional Jewish liturgical music. A dedicated and much loved choirmaster, he fully retired in 2010.
Fixman also benefitted from the support of his good friend Hugo Gryn, Emeritus Rabbi at WLS, who was devoted to the performance of Jewish music. Encouraged by Rabbi Gryn, Fixman presented innovative concert programmes . Soon WLS became the leading venue for Jewish music and the catalyst for musical growth within the wider Reform community.
In 1970 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Fixman gave the first UK synagogue performance of Ernest Bloch's, “ Avadath Hakodesh, a collaboration repeated in 1980 in honour of Bloch’s Centenary. In 1972, again with the RPO, Fixman conducted the first UK performance of Darius Milhaud's " Service Sacre". It was also its debut broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Fixman was a champion of the 17th Century Mantuan composer Salamone de’Rossi and in 1995 he performed and subsequently recorded Rossi’s Songs of Solomon with the Pro Cantione Antiqua at WLS.
In 1982 he formed the Institute for Jewish Music Studies and Performance at WLS, aimed at creating an intellectual legacy for Jewish music. For 12 years the Institute presented musical performances on diverse subjects by leading Jewish academics and performers.
In 1971, Fixman co-founded the Jewish Youth Orchestra with Ralph Finlay which gave young talented Jewish musicians an opportunity to experience orchestral repertoire and musical excellence and provided a medium for aspiring Jewish soloists. The orchestra flourished and for nearly 40 years gave concerts two to three times a year, often as charitable fund-raisers. It gave two concert tours to Israel. As a result there are now hundreds of adults whose musical life and education were inspired by Sydney Fixman.
Pamela died in 2002. He is survived by his two children, Linda and Stephen and six grandchildren. Pamela predeceased him in 2002.
