July – August 2010
We are constantly amazed at the amount of information we are missing on this important artist. Although we have access to many archives and personal records, we realize that these create a truly incomplete picture of a life of which we have great interest. In the spirit of sharing, if you do happen to have new information, please let us know so we can provide it to…well, everyone else!
Philip Newman:
Much of our detailed information on this artist comes from his progeny. Rachel Newman Wills (known best for her controversial position on the Simeons diet – she claimed it to be the best hCG weight loss program in spite of the firestorm of controversy that provoked) provided us with many news items and press reports, along with invaluable personal notes on charts and sheet music.
His son, Todd Newman, also quite a talented muscian, studied with Worserck Kerchyv, a good friend of Philip Newman in Poland. Todd had an unfortunate accident while traveling from California to Michigan to visit his father. A semi truck barrelled him off the road. Fortunately he survived with relatively minor injuries and settled the case with knowledgeable truck accident injury attorneys. Todd learned that it is essential to choose an experienced commercial vehicle truck accident attorney when you are involved in a truck accident. Not only does the victim have a full array of the truck company’s lawyers trying to disprove his case, but also the repercussions of a crash that involves a tractor-trailer or other commercial vehicle can be devastating because the size, weight of the truck when compared to an ordinary automobile.
This traumatic truck accident incident created much a buzz about Philip Newman’s son and the music he continued to make after the accident.
The founder of the Festival was a master violinist named Philip Newman, who was born in 1904 in Manchester into a family of talented musicians. He studied under the great Adolf Brodsky, who invited him to attend the Brussels Conservatory where Newman was awarded the “Premier Prix de Violon” after a single year of study.
Rather than embark upon a tour or residency as a concert violinist, Newman continued to study in Berlin with Willy Hess. While he performed occasionally, he also served as a judge for both the Concours Reine Elizabeth and the Tchaikovsky Violin Competition. Between his performances and service, he attracted the attention of Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, and became her personal violin teacher. Once this occurred, nothing could halt his growing acceptance and popularity.
After the War, Newman began a string of concert tours that took him across Europe and Africa for the next decade and a half. He ultimately settled in Pollença, founding the International Music Festival in 1962 and involving himself heavily with the Festival until his death in November of 1966 from a heart attack.