In Memoriam

Dr. Ephraim L. Rubin (1929-2020) 

We are sad to inform you that our founder and long-serving manager, Dr. Ephraim L. Rubin, died on March 26, 2020, from a rare form of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma diagnosed last October.  He was 90.

Without question, it was Ephraim's vision and drive that made The Riverside Orchestra possible. More than a manager, a position he held until 2017, Ephraim built the orchestra player by player, audience member by audience member.  He played in or attended every concert of the orchestra during its nearly 50-year history until his recent illness.

Ephraim, a scientist who loved to play classical music, was born in  Brooklyn on July 31, 1929, to David and Libbie (Rabinowitz) Rubin. His parents encouraged both his learning and his music. He attended Crown Heights Yeshiva, then public high school where he became fascinated with mathematics and science. He received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from City College and, thanks to a graduate fellowship, earned a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry at New York University in 1955. 

Later, he was Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Applied Mechanics at Polytechnic Institute and was also associated with the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (later the Courant Institute) and the Graduate School of Physics of Yeshiva University and the Graduate School of Chemistry at Stevens Institute of Technology. He published papers in more than a dozen scientific journals and lectured in the United States and western Europe as a NATO fellow. Einstein’s friend and colleague Max Born requested (and received) permission to present Ephraim’s paper on “Phase transitions in two-component systems” at the Royal Society, which published it in 1959.  

Throughout college, graduate studies, and fifteen years of teaching and publishing in his academic field, he played the clarinet, and sometimes the saxophone, with diverse ensembles and also took clarinet lessons from time to time — something he continued well into his eighties.

In 1971, he left academe to found a scientific and technical consulting business, Optimal Analysis Company.  And, also in 1971, he started the Riverside Chamber Ensemble which soon grew into The Riverside Orchestra as we know it today. 

Ephraim worked diligently to assure a loyal audience for the orchestra. He sent out concert mailings, adding personal handwritten notes. He instituted free entry for children, special children’s concerts, and, early on, established the tradition of including a post-concert party for the audience and orchestra members.  

Always looking for new talent, Ephraim sought out emerging conductors looking for experience–-many of whom now conduct major orchestras. Ephraim was notorious for stopping people carrying violin cases on the street or subway and asking if they wanted to play with the orchestra, and for reaching out to professional musicians as soloists. An avid tennis player in Central Park, he struck up friendships with prominent musicians there, and elsewhere, including Phil Myers, retired Principal Horn of The New York Philharmonic and the late Michael Tree, violist in The Guarneri Quartet. Both were presented as soloists, multiple times, with The Riverside Orchestra. 

Maestro Zubin Mehta observed a Phil Myers performance from the balcony of Trinity School’s chapel, a performance repeated at Lincoln Center a few weeks later at a much higher ticket price! 

Nearly 50 years and hundreds of concerts later, thanks largely to the foundation that Ephraim created, the orchestra draws an audience from the metropolitan region who enjoy both the music and the camaraderie of the orchestra’s famous post-concert parties.

We will miss Ephraim’s guiding hand and the bad jokes he told audiences during his welcoming remarks at concerts. But he left a vital institution, with a dedicated board of directors, the largest number of players in our history, a top-notch music director, and a bright future ahead.  

We extend our deepest condolences to Ephraim’s partner, Victoria Jacqueney, their son Benjamin, and many other family members and friends.   

A special concert – and party! – in his memory will be scheduled at a future date.