Dezsö Mahalek

Mahalek, Dezsö

Dezsö Mahalek. Cellist, teacher, b Hungary, ca 1890, d Vancouver 23 Mar 1961. He studied cello in Hungary and was a child prodigy. His teachers included David Popper at the Royal Cons of Budapest, Julius Klengel in Leipzig (where Mahalek became a friend and associate of the celebrated cellist Emanuel Feuermann), and Joseph Malkin. Moving to Canada as a young man, he studied engineering briefly at McGill University, then resumed his musical career. He moved (ca 1912) to Winnipeg, where he played in hotel and theatre orchestras and proved to be a significant teacher. Isaac Mamott, Lorne Munroe, Zara Nelsova, and others were among his pupils. He moved to Vancouver, where he established himself as an ensemble performer and teacher. (Malcolm Tait was among his Vancouver pupils.) A member 1936-61 (and principal in the 1940s) of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, he also played in CBC orchestras and in trios and quartets with Allard de Ridder, Adolph Koldofsky, and Arthur Benjamin.

Mahalek's wife, Caroline Henderson (b Durham, England, ca 1897, d Vancouver 14 Jun 1957), moved to Winnipeg in 1914. She studied voice in Toronto and performed with her husband on early radio broadcasts. She taught singing in Vancouver 1936-57.