A California Story
Gounod's Backstory.
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European Beginnings
Gounod's father Dionys Heberling was born in #### ####, becoming a popular musician in the 1880s with his Hungarian Orchestra. At some point he became a favorite musician for Queen Maria of Romania. The queen honored him by changing his family name to de Romandy, or "violinist of the gypsies."
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A California Story
In 1893 Romandy came to the U.S. with his his band of musicians. Romandy's Hungarian Band entertained at the famous theaters of the time, traveling throughout the west and California from San Fracisco to San Diego.
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Born in California
It was in the momentous year of 1893 that Romandy's gypsies played the Edgewater Inn, Colorado Springs, Colorado, performed at the World's Fair in Chicago, and finally settled down for a three-month gig at the Del Coronado Hotel in San Diego. It was here at the hotel where Gounod Romandy was born in the summer of 1893.
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From Graumann's to Disney - An Artist's Life
A prodigy violinist at the age of six, Gounod took up painting in the 1920's with teacher J. Bond Francisco. Along with leading orchestra's at Los Angeles' theaters, Gounod traveled California in the 1930's joining the new group of impressionist painters such as Edgar Payne, Paul Grimm, and Jack Wilkinson Smith. Gounod's painting exhibits were often accompianied with the soothing sounds of him on solo violin.
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