Judson, Arthur (Leon)
Judson, Arthur (Leon)
Judson, Arthur (Leon), influential American concert manager; b. Dayton, Ohio, Feb. 17, 1881; d. Rye, N.Y., Jan. 28, 1975. He took violin lessons with Max Bendix and Leopold Lichtenberg in N.Y. He was dean of the music department at Denison Univ., Granville, Ohio (1900–1907), and subsequently was manager of the Philadelphia Orch. (1915–35) and the N.Y. Phil. (1922–56). He devoted much time to artist representation, organizing the Judson Radio Program Corp. (1926) in order to showcase his artists. He also organized Columbia Concerts Corp. (1932), which grew into one of the most powerful management agencies in the U.S.; it later became Columbia Artists Management, Inc. He later formed the Judson, O’Neill, Beali and Steinway (JOBS) Agency (1962), which was renamed Arthur Judson Management (1969). Upon his retirement in 1972, it became Harry Beali Management, Inc.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire