The death has been announced, aged 94, of the venerable Burton Fine, principal viola for 29 years of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
He started out as a research chemist with the space agency NASA.
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Mary Lou Speaker, Joseph Silverstein, and now Burton Fine; the venerable, unmatchable, and legendary old guard of the BSO strings are gradually leaving us. They were truly unforgettable. Jules Eskin and Ed Barker remain and we wish them good health and many more years. RIP, the great Burton Fine.
It is an almost unbelievable story how he went from experienced NASA scientist to member of the BSO (second violin section) — for all practical purposes that “destination” orchestra was his first actual music job, and he took the audition on a lark with, for all practical purposes, one day to prepare. He’d been well trained, of course, including studies with Ivan Galamian. Many musicians have interesting back-stories, but Burton Fine’s ranks right up there.