concertmaster

noun con·cert·mas·ter \ ˈkän(t)-sərt-ˌma-stər \

variants: or concertmeister play \ˈkän(t)-sərt-ˌmī-stər\

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Definition of concertmaster

: the leader of the first violins of an orchestra and by custom usually the assistant to the conductor

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Recent Examples of concertmaster from the Web

The inaugural Mainly Mozart festival was held over 10 days in 1989 with Atherton as music director, Laturno as executive director and William Preucil as concertmaster.

— beth wood, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Mainly Mozart kicks off 2018 festival as it celebrates its 30th anniversary," 27 May 2018
Mention must be made of flutist Krista-Marie Aulak and concertmaster Julia Schilz, who were superb in the important solos, as well as the energetic percussion section, which was outstanding here (as well as in the Danielpour).

— zachary lewis, cleveland.com, "Cleveland Orchestra's 'Prometheus Project' gets off to fiery start: review," 11 May 2018
Zachary DePue, concertmaster; Simone Dinnerstein, piano.

— chronicle staff report, San Francisco Chronicle, "Classical music and dance listings," 10 May 2018
In that effort, Stenz could count on supple support from the orchestra and lyrical playing from a sturdy trio of soloists: concertmaster Jonathan Carney, principal cellist Dariusz Skoraczewski and guest pianist Ryo Yanagitani.

— tim smith, baltimoresun.com, "BSO delivers bracing Bernstein program with Benedetti, Alsop," 7 May 2018
The strings were the beating heart of the symphony, led by concertmaster Martin Chalifour, who delivered several rending, expressively nuanced solos.

— zoë madonna, BostonGlobe.com, "Los Angeles Philharmonic splashes down at Symphony Hall," 26 Apr. 2018
On the first half of the program, Stenz conducts Beethoven’s Triple Concerto featuring as soloists two BSO members — concertmaster Jonathan Carney and principal cellist Dariusz Skoraczewski — and guest pianist Ryo Yanagitani.

— tim smith, baltimoresun.com, "BSO and principal guest conductor Markus Stenz still hitting it off," 17 Apr. 2018
The symphony orchestra’s concertmaster, Netanel Draiblate, will be program director.

— Washington Post, "With academy program, symphony hopes to address diversity," 12 Apr. 2018
At the Philharmonic concert, the violins led a beautiful reading of Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, especially during the smoothly flowing second movement capped by delicate playing from concertmaster Rimma Bergeron-Langlois.

— matthew j. palm, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Classical music is stuffy, you say? Not in Central Florida," 8 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'concertmaster.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.