Glenn Dicterow leaving New York Philharmonic, joining USC faculty

Glenn Dicterow, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic for more than 30 years, will be leaving the venerated orchestra and joining the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles.

Dicterow, 63, will begin his new job at USC in fall 2013, the school announced Thursday. The New York Philharmonic said he is planning to step down from his role as concertmaster at the end of the 2013-14 season.

During the overlapping period, Dicterow is expected to lead some master classes at USC on a part-time basis.

At USC, Dicterow will hold the Robert Mann Endowed Chair in Violin and Chamber Music, a position that was recently established.

Dicterow’s wife, Karen Dreyfus, will also join the USC faculty. Dreyfus is a violist who has taught at the Manhattan School of Music, the Juilliard School and Mannes School of Music in New York.

Dicterow joined the New York Philharmonic as concertmaster in 1980. Before that, he was a violinist with the L.A. Philharmonic for close to 10 years during the 1970s, serving as associate concertmaster, second concertmaster and eventually rising to the position of concertmaster.
A Southern California native, Dicterow said in a recent phone interview that stepping down from the New York Philharmonic was “not an easy decision.” But he said the USC offer was “a very attractive situation for us at this juncture in our lives.”

Dicterow said that he and his wife will find a place to live in Southern California but will also keep a home in New York.

As a professor at USC, he said he will take private students and lead chamber groups and master classes.

Dicterow’s father, Harold, was the principal of the second violin section of the L.A. Philharmonic for more than 50 years. The family lived in several different neighborhoods, including the Fairfax district, North Hollywood and Sherman Oaks, according to the younger Dicterow.

By the time he leaves the New York Philharmonic, Dicterow will have served as concertmaster for 34 years, longer than anyone else in the orchestra’s history.

“It’s been an amazing run for all these years,” he said. But “it’s a very difficult job, a lot of traveling, a large repertoire.... I’m looking for a little slowing down at this stage and to give some of that knowledge back.”

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