Fodor, Eugene (Nicholas, Jr.)
Fodor, Eugene (Nicholas, Jr.)
Fodor, Eugene (Nicholas, Jr.), American violinist; b. Turkey Creek, Colo., March 5, 1950. His great-great-grandfather founded the Fodor Cons, in Hungary. He studied violin with Harold Wippler in Denver. In 1967 he went to N.Y. and studied with Galamian, and then with Gingold at the Ind. Univ. School of Music in Bloomington (diploma, 1970); later took lessons in the master class of Heifetz at the Univ. of Southern Calif, in Los Angeles (1970–71). In 1972 he won the Paganini Competition in Genoa, Italy. In 1974 he shared 2nd prize with 2 Soviet violinists (no 1st prize was awarded) at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Returning to America, he was given the honors of the state of Colo., and on Sept. 12, 1974, played at a state dinner at the White House in Washington, D.C., for the premier of Israel, Rabin. In subsequent years, he appeared as a soloist with a number of major orchs., and also was active as a recitalist. His seemingly successful career took a bizarre twist in 1989 when he was arrested and jailed for cocaine and heroin possession, cocaine trafficking, and breaking-and-entering on Martha’s Vine-yard in Mass. However, he was able to overcome this setback and resumed his career.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire