Arthur Thal was born into a Jewish family in Lithuania in 1904 and came to Bellingham at age 3. At a young age, he took up the study of violin with Mary Davenport Engberg, a pioneer of classical music performance and education in the Pacific Northwest. He later studied in Boston and Chicago. Beginning the late 1920s, he performed as a soloist and in ensembles in various venues around northwest Washington, including churches, schools, and Bellingham’s Hotel Leopold. He also began his career as a violin teacher.
Around 1935, Thal adopted pedagogical methods developed by Karl Moldrem, credited with founding the world’s first "baby orchestra" in New York City. He organized his own juvenile string orchestras in Bellingham and nearby Mount Vernon in the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to offering public concerts, these groups participated in community fund drives, including the Bellingham War Chest during the Second World War. Thal was later affiliated with Western Washington University and was concertmaster of its symphony orchestra.
For more than two decades, Thal was treasurer of Bellingham’s Congregation Beth Israel synagogue. His son, Lennard Thal, was ordained as a rabbi in 1973.
Arthur Thal died on June 10, 1983.
The collection consists of newspaper clippings, photographs, concert programs, and other materials related to Arthur Thal’s career as a violin performer and teacher. Many clippings are about his students, some of whom went on to become professional musicians. Also available is one folder of letters pertaining to Thal’s role as treasurer of Congregation Beth Israel.
The collection is open to the public.
Arthur Thal Collection, Special Collections, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103.
Acquisition information is unknown.
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