Beating time

the long version

Harry Ellis Dickson is one of Boston's most popular, beloved, and energetic musicians. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1908 to Russian immigrant parents, Dickson was a violinist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for nearly fifty years and Assistant Conductor for Arthur Fiedler's Boston Pops. He continues to conduct more than fifty concerts each year in the United States and abroad. In this charming memoir, Dickson recollects his long and illustrious life and career. With humor and warmth, he shares reminiscences and anecdotes about his family and friends, colleagues, travels, and the Boston Symphony. An entertaining raconteur, Dickson relates his experiences, some amusing, some serious, in working with such renowned conductors and performers as Danny Kaye, Arthur Fiedler, Serge Koussevitzky, Seiji Ozawa, John Williams, and Igor Stravinsky. The memoir also includes Dickson's touching reflections on his wife, his daughters, and the failed presidential campaign of his son-in-law Michael Dukakis.