Robert Shaw

From his early beginnings as a glee club recruiter for the well known bandleader and TV presenter Fred Waring, Robert Shaw, then a postgraduate from Pomona College, rose through the ranks to become America's most respected and best known choral conductor.

In 1941 Shaw founded the Collegiate Chorale, a symphonic choir based in New York which still exists today. In the 1940s the choir was noted, and often criticised, for its liberal policy on racial integration. Upon hearing the choir perform Beethoven's 'Ninth Symphony' the Italian conductor and notorious musical perfectionist Arturo Toscanini remarked, "In Robert Shaw I have at last found the maestro I have been looking for".

Shaw went on to found the Robert Shaw Chorale which in its heyday, and depending on the piece being performed, could have as many as 60 voices. The choir made some memorable recordings for RCA Victor and their 1957 release 'Christmas Hymns and Carols' reached number five in Billboard's Pop Charts. The choir became an international attraction until it was finally disbanded in 1965. Shaw went on to become musical director of The San Diego Symphony and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and founded a chorus for the orchestra during his term at Atlanta. Shaw continued to be a key figure in American classical music right up until his death from a stroke in 1999 at the age of 82.