Ernest Schelling

Ernest Henry Schelling (26 July 1876 - 8 December 1939) was an American pianist, composer, and conductor. Born in Belvidere, New Jersey, Schelling was a child prodigy. His first teacher was his father. He entered the Academy of Music in Philadelphia at age 4. At age 7, Schelling traveled to Europe to study where he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire. While in Europe he worked with many great masters including Percy Goetschius, Huber, Barth, Moritz Moszkowski and Theodor Leschetizky. Schelling was the first conductor of the Young People's Concerts of the New York Philharmonic. The first concert was held March 27, 1924. The concerts were designed to encourage the love of music in children. They combined the orchestra's performance with a lecture about one aspect or another of the orchestra or the music itself with a picture or demonstration, so that children were exposed to a variety of stimuli. The concerts were highly appreciated by children, as well as their parents. Schelling held these concerts in New York, and also took them on the road. Such cities as Philadelphia, London, Rotterdam and Los Angeles hosted them. Ernest Schelling died at his home in New York City. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.