 | |||||||
|
Rosenberg, Johannes (Dr) short biography |
|
|
1921 Born in Wagga Wagga, Australia. Early studies with Mrs. Grace Melba (daughter of Nelly Melba) at the Wollongong Conservatorium of Music. Performs the Brahms Violin Concerto at the age of seven in the first Sydney Opera House (burned down and now faithfully restored and used as a spacious bus stop quite close to the more famous opera house of today). 1932 Private tuition with Josef Kreisler (the immigrant brother of the extremely well known Fritz Kreisler). 1934 Wins the Darwin International Violin Competition and goes on to sweep the world with prizes in the Vienna, Paris, and Rome Lotto competitions. At this time George Enesco said of him "His playing is a spiritual experience, his sound seems to come from another time and place, which most violinists search for in vain". 1936 Selected to run the 10,000 metres for the Australian team sent to The Berlin Olympics. 1940 Left Sydney for Hiroshima. 1940-45 Studied Japanese Calligraphy, Zen, Flower Arranging, and became a Fighter Ace with The Imperial Japanese Airforce carrying out a failed kamikaze dive on the USS Enterprise. 1946 Invited to San Diego University to lecture in Atomic Physics and Musicology. 1947Invented the 2 bit portable computer and composed first interactive violin compositions. 1949 Commissioned by Toscanini and The NBC to write a Violin Concerto which was not used in Walt Disney's "Fantasia". 1951 Was not hounded by McCarthy, was not tried as a spy, was not sent to the electric chair, but probably should have been as he formulated plans for the new functional socialist violin concerto based on his "Unified Music Relativity Theory". 1952 As the world's first Ethnoviolinologist, discovers the violin playing Payawipaya people on the first of a number of expeditions to Papua New Guinea. 1953 Rosenberg becomes world record holder for his detaché bow stroke, timed at over 1000 individual strokes a minute - thus beating the original Heifitz record of 960 strokes set in 1934. He also held the world record for violin throwing; 94.6 metres for a single violin; 72.3 metres for two violins thrown simultaneously. 1955 First violinist to climb Mount Everest. 1956 Emigrated to the DDR (The former German Democratic Republic or East Germany). 1957 Awarded the Nobel Prize for his book "Yehudi Menuhin Serves Capitalism". 1965 Gives violin lessons to The Beatles, earning a sharp rebuke from Ravi Shankar. 1966-75 Countless world tours. Develops an interest in the performance of 20th century music using authentic instruments and playing techniques. 1976 With the demise of live music already evident, N.A.S.A. invites Rosenberg to assist in The Voyager Space Programme. The 11th Violin Concerto included in the world culture package leaving the Solar system in search of other venues. 1980 Runs for President of The United States. Fails due to gross miscalculation - that year no presidential elections were held. 1983 begins the unfinished but totally huge installation 'Violin Landing'; 900 aeolian violins set into a grid on the Gibson desert, Western Australia. 1984-1991 Retired to Australia giving occasional interviews and lectures on The Second Viennese School of Composition at The National Sports Academy, Canberra. 29/11/1992 Commits suicide 400 kilometres due west of Alice Springs, carrying out "the logical necessity of the professional violinist in the Age of Shopping". These notes about the Doctor were supplied by The Rosenberg Archive, Melbourne; a cause of much professional jealousy over the years from internationally renowned colleagues as Rosenberg simply upstaged them all with the best biography in the world of 20th century new music. |
 |