Ignatius Gennusa

Ignatius Gennusa was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 26, 1920.  He studied first with his Italian-born amateur musician father Joseph Gennusa Sr. (1889-1987), an amateur musician and bandsman in Philadelphia.  Ignatius Gennusa gained admission to the Curtis Institute in 1942, but his time there was limited by World War 2, and he was officially graduated in the Class of 1943.   During the war, Gennusa served in the Philadelphia Navy Yard Band, along with colleagues such as Philadelphia Orchestra Principal clarinet Anthony Gigliotti, and later on the aircraft carrier USS Randolph.  After the war, Ignatius Gennusa was Principal clarinet of the orchestra of the Radio City Music Hall, an attractive position, since it gave year-around employment, which even Chicago, New York or Philadelphia did not offer at that time.  However, it was also a heavy work load, with multiple shows each day.  Ignatius Gennusa was then Principal clarinet of the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC.  This was a less attractive post, low in salary, season, and prestige.  After the heavy musician turnover in Chicago under Rafael Kubelik, and Kubelik's dismissal of Mitchell Lurie (among others), contemporary accounts suggest that Kubelik was looking for a "stop gap" in some positions.  It was thought that the appointment of Ignatius Gennusa was one of these, and that his season as Principal clarinet in Chicago was to be limited to one season.  Perhaps Gennusa was also aware of this, since in the next season, 1951-1952, Ignatius Gennusa became Principal clarinet of the Baltimore Symphony.

 This turned out to be a favorable move for him, and he served for 21 seasons, 1951-1972 in the first chair in Baltimore, retiring under Music Director Sergiu Comissiona.  While in Baltimore, Ignatius Gennusa taught at the Peabody Conservatory, where he continued until 1993, age 73.  Ignatius Gennusa was well-known also for the range of clarinet mouthpieces he developed and commercialized.  Ignatius "Iggy" Gennusa died in Bethesda, Maryland on May 17, 2003, both respected and liked by his colleagues and students.

Ignatius Genussa