Edgar Braun, 69, artistic director of the San Francisco Chamber
Orchestra for nearly four decades, died on Sunday, after a long struggle
with leukemia.  Born in Germany, he arrived in New York at age 5 with his
family.

As a young student, Braun moved to San Francisco, where he played viola
in community orchestras and attended UC-Berkeley, receiving a master's
degree and a doctorate.  His education included study of conducting and
composition with Pierre Monteux and Ernest Bloch, respectively.  An
attorney during the day, a working musician at night, he became involved
with the Chamber Orchestra, composed of musicians from the SF Opera, SF
Symphony and freelancers.

SFCO was founded in 1952 by SF Symphony violist Emanuel Leplin, with
Monteux's support.  When Leplin contracted polio, Adrian Sunshine became
the music director, and he turned the baton over to Braun in the early
1960s.  From a couple of concerts annually at that time, the ensemble's
activity grew steadily, and by 1980, the orchestra presented 30 concerts
a year, usually free or at very low lost to the audience.  One of Braun's
favorite projects was to present the music of concentration camp composers
Viktor Ullman and Pavel Havas, whose scores were smuggled out of the camps
and resurrected from scraps of paper.

Because of his illness in recent years, Braun could not keep up his former
energetic double life.  Last year, he turned over the Chamber Orchestra to
one of his former soloists, violist Benjamin Simon.  Plans are being made
for a memorial concert on March 2, in Herbst Theater, on the occasion of
celebrating the Chamber Orchestra's 50th anniversary.

Janos Gereben/SF
[log in to unmask]