Minnesota concertmaster, RIP
UncategorizedThe death has been made known of Lea Foli, concertmaster of the Winnipeg Symphony from 1960 and of the Minnesota Orchestra from 1969 to 1988. He was 91.
Lea Foli was also a faculty member of the Aspen Festival and of Interlochen and a founder of the University of M innesora String Quartet.
Wonderful violinist and the most generous individual. Knew him well in Winnipeg and spent a memorable summer at the Stratford ON Festival in 1965. A week’s invitation extended to three when Lea saw my progress and excitement as a student there, hugely inspired under his encouragement. He made sure I met and heard Benny Goodman, Jean Pierre Rampal, Lynn Harrell, Oscar Shumsky, Leonard Rose….my word, just thinking back on all that over such a short time! And his own playing – so deeply felt and technically superb.
RIP Lea. You made a difference to this person.
Sad to read of this — a truly fine violinist, and I heard him play the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Minnesota Orchestra on tour in the early 1970s (somewhere in some box I have the program book which he was kind enough to autograph for me). He had a nice room-filling tone. So far I have been able to find only one recorded solo performance on YouTube, the Paul Fetler Concerto #2.
One of the finest concertmasters ever to grace the chair. Lea was gentle but firm and always gave his best to everyone. I was fortunate to work with him and be his friend for several decades.
And he had a wicked sense of humor. In his dressing room in Minneapolis, he had a copy of the cymbal part for Bruckner 7 on the wall. It consists of a lot of rests and just one note.
Rest well.