Madelyn Levenson

The service will be Live Streamed at 3:00 pm on April 24, at this link: http://client.tribucast.com/tcid/65832953

WORCESTER - Madelyn (Sadick) Levenson, 96, died on Wednesday April 22 after years of declining health. She was born in 1924 in Worcester, the daughter of Moses and Sara (Jacobson) Sadick. She married her husband Harry, the love of her life, in 1952.

Mrs. Levenson was a pioneer in the classical music industry, and under her guidance, perseverance and creativity, she was responsible for concerts that have continued to entertain millions of spectators for nearly seven decades. She graduated from Classical High School in Worcester in 1942 and was in her own right a concert pianist, having studied with Howard Goding at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. She was also the architect and collaborator-in-chief with her husband, founding the Worcester Youth Orchestra in 1947, and in 1948, the ensemble now known as the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, and it was she who came up with the idea, in 1951, of free, outdoor family concerts at Worcester’s Institute Park, an effort that also extends to the city’s annual July 4th fireworks concert before countless attendees.

She was also the mastermind of a number of popular musical Worcester traditions: the classical music concerts that took place “in-the-round” at the Worcester Auditorium and the Worcester Art Museum in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Many famous musicians were featured at these performances, including pianist Garrick Ohlsson (who in 1967 was given his first opportunity to perform with a professional symphony orchestra in Worcester).

Mrs. Levenson worked with numerous luminaries of the classical music world, showcasing them as soloists with the orchestra including tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli. Many members of the Boston Symphony were similarly featured including concertmaster Joseph Silverstein, trumpeters Armando Ghitalla and Peter Chapman, and flutist James Pappoutsakis. Principal players from the Philadelphia Orchestra, including concertmaster Anshel Brusilow, cellist Samuel Mayes, and violist Joseph de Pasquale also appeared with the orchestra. Other world-class soloists included bassist Gary Carr, trumpeter Stephen Burns, New York Philharmonic violist Gilad Karni, and pianist Boris Goldovsky, to name just a few. Mrs. Levenson also recognized immediately the talents of conductor/pianist Myron Romanul, violinist/pianist Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse, clarinetist John Fullam, soprano Jane Shivick, and violinist Kurt Nikkanen, and arranged to featured these artists at numerous concerts in Worcester. World premiers by eminent contemporary composers such as Henry Cowell, Alan Hovhaness, and Ulysses Kay were presented where these composers would hold conversations afterwards with the audience.

Mrs. Levenson inaugurated the highly popular annual duo piano gala concert at Tuckerman Hall which from the start was an instant success, as well as the 40-year tradition of the Holiday Pops concert at Mechanics Hall. This latter endeavor has enabled nearly 8,000 area college students to perform over the years in a combined chorus accompanied by the Massachusetts Symphony.

With their work beginning in 1947 founding the Worcester Youth Orchestra, which still flourishes today, Madelyn and her husband provided musical education and training to thousands of area high school and junior high school students as members of that and related ensembles. In 1976, Madelyn and her husband began the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra which is Worcester’s local professional classical music ensemble. They inaugurated many concerts featuring renowned dance ensembles with the orchestra, a concept that was fresh and highly popular with audiences. She oversaw the orchestra’s inauguration of The Centrum (now the DCU Center) in 1982. The Levenson Concert Stage in Institute Park on Salisbury Street is dedicated to her and her husband. Indeed, Madelyn was well ahead of her time, being one of the first female orchestra managers and artistic directors in the country, and throughout her professional years, was the organization’s tireless and exacting musical librarian.

In 1976, she along with her husband was part of a group that envisioned the reuse and revitalization of Worcester’s Tuckerman Hall. It was her foresight that permitted that facility to become one of the finest small concert halls in America today.

Madelyn was also a piano teacher for 63 years, having taught privately as well as at Shepherd Knapp and Bancroft Schools. It is estimated that she taught thousands of students during those years including many doctors affiliated with UMass Medical School as well as basketball legend Bob Cousy. She was a congregant of Temple Emanuel.

Madelyn was well-travelled and spent nearly 30 winters in Dania Beach, Florida where her sons bought an apartment for their parents in 1985. A terrific cook and talented painter, Madelyn was relentlessly devoted to her husband, children and grandchildren.

Madelyn leaves her children, daughter Lauren of Buenos Aires, Argentina, son Paul of Worcester, and son Dana and his wife, Christine, her grandsons Max and Sam, also of Worcester, her brother David, her sisters Ruth (Rubin) and Shirley Anne Friend and her husband Sherwood, brother-in-law Harry Manko, and sister-in-law Marcia Sadick, as well as many nieces and nephews.

Burial at B’nai Brith Cemetery in Worcester will be private. A memorial service at Tuckerman Hall will take place later this year. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in her memory to the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, P.O. Box 20070, Worcester, MA 01602 or to the Jewish Healthcare Center, 629 Salisbury Street, Worcester 01609, where she spent the last period of her life under the loving care of a wonderful nursing staff including Georgette, Sandy, and Chi.

To share a memory or offer a condolence please visit "The Tribute Wall."