Obituary : * Sally Raderman; Concert Violinist

Sally Raderman, a concert violinist who played for 45 years with Hollywood studio orchestras before settling in Camarillo in the early 1980s, has died. She was 81.

Raderman’s career included a 10-year-stint with Frank Sinatra’s orchestra and many years playing with such conductors as Meredith Willson, composer of “The Music Man.”

Born Sarah Kreindler in San Francisco in 1912, Raderman was a child prodigy who practiced violin for five hours a day at home instead of attending school, said her daughter, Marisa Samuels.

Her first formal schooling came at age 12, when she attended the Curtis Institute, a music school in Philadelphia.

In a violin competition as a child, Raderman defeated Yehudi Menuhin, who was later to gain international fame, Samuels said.

Raderman worked for several years in orchestras for San Francisco radio stations before moving in the late 1930s to Los Angeles to play for MGM. There, she met Lou Raderman, violinist and concertmaster for the studio’s orchestra, who became her second husband in 1950.

In addition to playing with both MGM and the Universal Studios orchestra, Raderman and her husband toured for 10 years with Sinatra’s orchestra.

Following her husband’s death in 1981, she retired from the studios and moved to the Leisure Village retirement community in Camarillo.

Prior to her death, she played for 10 years with the Ventura County Symphony. She also played for other local orchestras.

“She never really retired,” Samuels said. “She always described herself as a professional. She wouldn’t miss a concert or a rehearsal of the smallest thing.”

Raderman died Saturday at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, where she was recovering from heart surgery.

In addition to Samuels, who lives in Walnut Creek, Raderman is survived by two granddaughters, a grandson and three great-grandchildren.

The family is planning a memorial service in late January. Pierce Brothers Griffin Mortuary in Camarillo is handling arrangements.