Henry Lewis

RE Erin Aubry Kaplan’s article about Bob Watt retiring from the L.A. Philharmonic [“It’s His Horn of Plenty,” Jan. 20]: Kaplan may not know (sad to note) who Henry Lewis was, but surely Watt does. He may have felt like Jackie Robinson when joining the L.A. Philharmonic, but that role of “first” had already been taken by Lewis in the 1951-52 season.

He was the first black in a major symphony orchestra in the entire country, as he entered the double-bass section at 18 years of age.

In 1957, after a two-year stint as conductor of the 7th Army Symphony in Germany, he reentered the orchestra and began conducting the L.A. Philharmonic in 1961 [as an assistant conductor under Zubin Mehta], upon substituting for an ailing Igor Markevitch.

In the early ‘60s, he began conducting many of our U.S. opera companies and opera companies abroad, including La Scala Milano in 1965. By that time, he was conducting most of the major symphonies in our country as well as becoming associate conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic. Those were all firsts, of course.

Shortly thereafter he became music director of the New Jersey Symphony, which he led to major symphony status (rated by the amount of annual budget by the American Symphony League).

His accomplishments are much too numerous for a letter, but I am guessing, since Watt hails from New Jersey, he no doubt had met Henry, and perhaps I met him too, since Henry and I were married from 1960 to 1979.

Marilyn Horne

New York

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