Philip A. Herfort

Who was Philip A. Herfort?

Philip Adolph Herfort was a German violinist and orchestra leader.

He was born in Berlin, Germany to Jewish parents, Adolph Herfort and Clara Herfort née Maass. Philip Herfort married Antonie Johanna Lupprian on December 15, 1877 in New York City and fathered four children; Sophie, Paul, Gunther, and Walter. He studied music under Joseph Joachim at the Royal Academy of Music, Berlin. He first came to the United States through the port of New York City on August 5, 1876 on the SS Donau. That same year, 1876, he appeared with Theodore Thomas at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Herfort was first violin and viola of the New York Philharmonic Society and the New York Symphony Orchestra. For many years, he was the orchestra leader of the Metropolitan Opera. He was also the director of the Koster and Bial's Music Hall and the Long Beach Hotel, at its beginning and at the height of its popularity. He was the former musical director for E. H. Sothern and Sarah Bernhardt Productions, and was a member of the Venth-Kronold String Quartet, which was led and founded by Carl Venth. He was also a member of the Aschenbrodel Verein, a musical society. Philip Herfort died on March 24, 1921 in Brooklyn, New York and is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery.