Born in 1920 in Harlem, NY to Abraham and Flora Music, Paul was the youngest of three children and was told that he couldn’t wait to be born as he was birthed on the floor without a doctor. The family moved to Brooklyn in 1923 and at age four, Paul heard his cousin Joe playing the violin and told his mother that he also wanted to do that. At age five he was enrolled to begin kindergarten at P.S. 192, when soon after, an introduction was made with Osip Ovzerovitch (Joseph Osborne), concert master of the Vitagraph Studio orchestra.
Paul started to seriously study violin and became a violin virtuoso. Paul’s stage name was Paul Musikonsky and thus began his solo concert career at the age of 9. His debut was with the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Henry Hadley. He also played recitals in Carnegie Hall and Town Hall where Albert Einstein would often come to hear Paul perform. He concertized in the U.S and Canada and later travelled by ship to Europe, concertizing in France, England, Spain, Italy, Poland, Budapest, Prague, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and Palestine. By invitation of Bronislaw Huberman, Paul performed the Brahms Violin Concerto under the baton of Arturo Toscanini with the newly formed Palestine Symphony Orchestra. He performed with Toscanini on two separate occasions. His concerts and recitals were outstandingly successful and newspaper criticisms were glowing with superlatives about his performances.
Due to the rumblings of War in Europe, Paul returned to the U.S. in 1940 and was notified that he would be drafted, but after an introduction to Julius P. Morgan, a Commodore in the Navy and the head of the Naval Intelligence, Paul joined the Naval Reserve and trained to be a cryptographer. He was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet Camera Party, which was established to test accuracy of cannons by triangulation using special 35 mm motion picture cameras. Paul was later transferred to the USS Alcor for active sea duty, then to the “Lighter than Air” Blimp facility in Hitchcock, Texas, where he not only took pictures, but also learned to fly blimps and photograph on fixed wing aircraft.
After being Honorably discharged from the Navy, Paul returned to New York to help his ailing father with his metal casting business, once again putting his violin career on hold. Paul formed a company called Mutual Metal and Plastic Corporation and embarked on becoming one of the very first successful plastic businesses in the U.S.
With encouragement from Jacques Thibaut in Paris and Erling Block in Denmark, both internationally acclaimed violinists, Paul returned to Europe hoping to re-establish his music career. He lived in Denmark for several years studying and giving recitals and concerts. On his way to a rehearsal in Copenhagen, a freak accident on a train broke Paul’s elbow and wrist as well as tearing the tendons and ligaments of his left hand and arm. Paul returned to the U.S. with a plaster cast that stayed on for several months. Paul was left with a permanent disability and was forced to redirect his life.
Back in New York, Paul resumed his manufacturing business, and in the early 1950’s, met Irene Lesser, whom he later married. They had two sons, Alan and Spencer. The family moved to Jacksonville, Florida where Paul purchased a surplus air base and started to manufacture scientific research equipment with his brother. Paul acquired a patent for clean rooms, dry boxes, and patents for Boeing. Paul traveled twice to Geneva, Switzerland for the Atomic Energy Corporation.
In the early 1960’s, the family moved to Orange, California, where Paul established a new company, CAEMCO, and continued his manufacturing business, creating new and innovative products. After Paul retired, he enjoyed reading, travelling, attending concerts and theater and spending time with family and friends.
Paul was preceded in death by Irene Lennard and is survived by Alan Lennard, Spencer Lennard, daughter-in-law Evelyn Roether, and his beloved partner, Louise Jacobs, with whom he spent the last ten years of his life.
Paul was laid to rest on August 26, 2020 at Fairhaven Memorial Park Cemetery in Santa Ana.
Donations in memory of Paul Lennard to:
Pacific Symphony
17620 Fitch Ave. Suite 100
Irvine, CA 92614
Lennard, Paul
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