Charles Munch (1891-1968) was born in Strasbourg, then part of Germany. He studied the violin in his native city before moving to Paris. He became a French citizen after 1918 and later taught his instrument and played in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra until 1929.
His conducting career began in 1932, when he directed a number of orchestras in the Parisian capital until appointed to the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra in 1938, a position he held until 1946. Munch’s American début in 1946 eventually led to him succeeding Koussevitzky as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1949. His thirteen-year tenure with this orchestra included the first-ever visit by an American ensemble to the Soviet Union in 1956.
In 1967 he was appointed conductor of the newly formed Orchestre de Paris but died in the United States while on tour with them. A noted conductor of French music, he also was highly rated in German repertoire as well.
