When Samuel Magad auditioned for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a 26-year-old vet fresh from the U.S. Army Orchestra, he of course was accepted — the violinist had already debuted with the CSO as an 11-year-old prodigy during World War II.
But there was one issue.
“You’re a good player, but could you get a better violin?” asked music director Fritz Reiner, who studied under Bartok.
No, that wasn’t possible, in the short term.
“I had a junk violin, but I was broke,” Magad recalled. “I had a wife, two babies and not a penny. He said, ‘I’ll take you anyway.'”
In the long term, however, a better violin would come. By the time Magad’s nearly half-century with the CSO ended, he was playing the 1710 Stradivari “Vieuxtemps Hauser.”
After a lifetime of playing music at the highest levels, including as the backbone of the CSO for 48 years, Magad died in Buffalo Grove on May 25 at age 94.
“It’s mind-boggling to think of the changes Sam navigated during his years under four very different Chicago Symphony music directors,” said Wynne Delacoma, the former longtime classical music critic at the Sun-Times. “He arrived in 1958 during the reign of the legendarily precise Fritz Reiner and rose to assistant concertmaster in 1966 during Jean Martinon’s relatively short tenure. Georg Solti named him concertmaster in 1972, and Sam held that front-row seat for two decades as the high-octane CSO-Solti chemistry turned the orchestra into an international powerhouse. He was a steady presence during the next 15 years when Daniel Barenboim’s approach to a piece of music could change from one performance to the next. Sam’s impeccable technical skills and open mindset were invaluable assets to whomever was on the podium.”
The concertmaster is the unsung backstop who not only cues the A note — usually played by the oboist — which the orchestra tunes their instruments to at the start of each piece but sees that the conductor’s wishes are obeyed and facilitates logistics. If a star violin soloist breaks a string mid-performance, the concertmaster will swap instruments.
Some concertmasters are mere mouthpieces of the conductor; not Magad.
“Magad saw himself as a colleague of the orchestra’s players, walking the players’ side of the divide with management,” Anne Mischakoff Heiles writes in “America’s Concertmasters.” “Giving voice to their concerns, he endeavored to use his voice to promote the welfare of his colleagues.”
He was born May 14, 1932, in Chicago. His father, Herman, was a mattress manufacturer and amateur violinist from Kyiv. His mother, Doris, was a homemaker.
Magad started playing at age 5 and studied with Russian virtuoso Paul Stassevitch.
In 1944, Magad played the first movement from Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin in E Minor, Op. 64 at the CSO afternoon Young People’s Concert.
He met his future wife, Miriam, as a teenager in the Marshall High School orchestra.
“She looked at him and said, ‘I’m going to marry that boy.’ She got her wish,” said their younger daughter, Carlen Mines. The couple was married for 71 years before Miriam’s death last February.
“They had an incredible love for classical music throughout their lives,” Mines said.
After graduating from DePaul University, Magad was drafted in 1955, then spent three years in the U.S. Army Orchestra. Back in civilian life, he joined the CSO and the Grant Park Symphony.
In 1980, Magad helped found the Northbrook Symphony.
“One day, a man called me up and said, ‘I’m putting together an orchestra, and would you like to be the conductor?'” Magad said. “I laughed a bit and said sure. Next thing I knew, he was calling me up to say, ‘Can you come Monday night for the first rehearsal?'”
He was its conductor for 20 years and named Conductor of the Year in 1998 by the Illinois Council of Orchestras. DePaul also gave him an honorary doctorate.
He was also summertime concertmaster at the Aspen Music Festival and worked with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
He retired from the CSO in 2007.
“It’s been a joyous ride,” Magad said at the time. “I’ve been very lucky. I’ve gotten a chance to work with all the music directors, going back to Fritz Reiner. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to work with such a great organization, and with the best colleagues and conductors.”
Survivors include daughters Mines and Debra Magad; grandchildren Jared, Michael, Greg and Kayla; and great-grandchildren Leo, Devon, Layla and Blair.
“He was a kind and caring man, with a huge heart. Family was very, very important to him,” Debra Magad said. “He always found time for family.”
“He was precise, incredibly kind, strong and loved what he did,” Mines said. “He loved classical music.”