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Sibley Watson Digital Archive

A visit to the Dossenbachs

James G. Averell and Hermann Dossenbach

James G. Averell and Hermann Dossenbach at 11 Prince Street

On April 12, 1891, J. G. Averell visited his violin teacher, Hermann Dossenbach, and his new wife, Daisy.   He reports in a letter to his mother the next day, "Mr. Dossenbach asked me to come to his house last night, I went and they seemed very happy, he got lots of presents, she seems very nice, we played duets."

The Dossenbachs had married on April 8, 1891, just two days after J.G.'s mother's wedding to James Sibley Watson.
 
Hermann Dossenbach was a central figure in the development of music in Rochester.  In 1900 he founded the Rochester Orchestra, a forerunner of today's Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and later founded the DKG Institute, which would eventually be incorporated into the Eastman School of Music.
The Wedding
A visit to the Dossenbachs