May 25, 1910: Birth of Duluth musician Ralph Oxman

On this day in Duluth in 1910, Ralph Sanford Oxman was born to William and Mary Oxman. William Oxman owned the Duluth Fur Company, housed within the Commercial Club at 404 West First Street. Ralph became interested in the cello, as a family story goes, when he attended a concert by British cellist Beatrice Harrison at the Duluth YWCA auditorium. Shortly after, he began studying cello at the Lachmund music studio in the Temple Opera building and later studied with Alphin Flaaten at the Flaaten Conservatory of Music in Duluth. After graduating Duluth Central High School, Oxman went onto study at Juliard. After teaching in Connecticut, Oxman returned to Duluth and performed for the Duluth Symphony Orchestra before returning to the east coast, where he eventually joined the New York Philharmonic. His final performance in Duluth was in October, 1974; his wife Mary accompanied him on piano at the newly opened Marshall Performing Arts Center on the UMD campus. Read more about this remarkable musician here.

Ralph Oxman. (Image: Duluth Public Library)