Biography of Harry Ellis Dickson
Associate Conductor
Harry Ellis Dickson was named Associate Conductor of
the Boston Pops Orchestra in January 1980, and he was also
founder, Artistic Director, and Conductor of the Boston Symphony
Youth Concerts, as well as a member of the Boston Symphony's
Orchestra's first violin section.
A native of Cambridge,
Massachussetts, Mr. Dickson was a graduate of Somerville High
School and the New England Conservatory of Music. He studied
violin for two years with Carl Flesch and Max Rostal as a
fellowship student at Berlin's Horschschule für Musik, and later
studied conducting with Pierre Monteux at the Domain School in
Maine. Mr. Dickson was active both as conductor and
violinist before joining the Boston Symphony under Serge
Koussevitzky in 1938.
He joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a first violinist
in 1938 and played with the orchestra for 49 seasons, regretting
only that management suggested he retire before he hit the
milestone of his 50th. His other enduring orchestral
relationship, with the Boston Pops, began when he stepped in to
conduct as Arthur Fiedler's assistant in 1955; it lasted 44
years. His friendship with Fiedler became the subject of his
1984 book, "Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops," subtitled
"An Irreverent Memoir."
''I was probably as close to
Arthur Fiedler as anybody ever got,'' he said once in an
interview, ''and that wasn't very close.''
Mr. Dickson was the distinguished
recipient of numerous awards. He was a Chevalier in the Ordre
des Arts et des Lettres of the French government, and in 1971
the National Conference of the Humanities presented him a
Certificate of Honoe recognizing his distinguished contributions
to the humanities. He held honorary degrees from Boston's
Berklee College of Music, from Curry College and from North
Adams State College in Massachussets. In September 1975, the
city of Somerville dedicated the Harry Ellis Dickson Center of
Fine Arts and Humanities in its new Winter Hill Community
School.
An ardent collector of anecdotes about music and
musicians, Mr. Dickson has incorporated many of them into his
book, "Gentlement, More Dolce Please!", an entertaining view of
music behind the scenes. In addition, he has furthered the
part-time conducting career of his close friend Danny Kaye, with
whom he was travelled to many countries of the world as musical
mentor.
Mr. Dickson's association wtih the Boston Pops
dates from 1938. He became assistant conductor of that orchestra
in 1958. In 1975, he conducted the Pops at the inaugural
ceremony of his son-in-law, former Governor Michael Dukakis.
The Boston Symphony Youth Concerts were instituted in 1959, and
for his work as those concerts director and conductor, Mr.
Dickson has been described as "that rare soul, an adult who
remembers what it was like to be young, who loves young people
and understands them, and who wishes to share with them that
magic kingdom of the mind where music is the key."
He was also wryly pleased with his longevity. ''I've been
around so long the statues in Symphony Hall were little boys
when I started,'' he quipped at a Boston Symphony Orchestra
tribute to him last spring.
His wife of 43 years, Jane K.
Williams, died in 1977. He is survived by his daughters, Kitty
Dukakis of Brookline, Mass., and Jinny Peters of Pocasset,
Mass.; and six grandchildren.