Broadus Erle

Who was Broadus Erle?

Broadus Erle was an American violinist.

Born in Chicago and reared in Toronto, Erle began his violin studies at age 3, taught by his mother, Brownie Earl. At age 5, he started taking lessons from Pasquale Briglia, concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. By age 6, he was concertizing extensively. He briefly attended the Curtis Institute twice, the first time at age 10, and the second time as a member of the class of 1940. He was also a student at Rollins College, where he was concertmaster of its orchestra. According to Erle, his most important teacher was Alexander Bloch, a violinist, conductor, and composer who was once a student and assistant of Leopold Auer.

In the 1940s, Erle was concertmaster of the MGM Symphony Orchestra and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Along with violist Walter Trampler, cellist Claus Adam, and violinist Matthew Raimondi, Erle formed in 1948 the highly regarded New Music Quartet, which specialized in performing and recording modern music. He was the first violinist in this quartet for 8 years. From 1956 to 1960, he served as concertmaster of the newly founded Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in Tokyo. During this period, he also taught at the Toho School of Music in Tokyo.