Collection 48 - Hart House String Quartet collection

The Hart House String Quartet was founded by violinist Geza de Kresz, violist Milton Blackstone (formerly Blackstein), cellist Boris Hambourg, and violinist Harry Adaskin. They gave their first performance in 1924 at Hart House Theatre, and its success of the concert led to the groups permanent establishment with funding by the Massey Foundation. The quartet continued to perform internationally until 1945. They performed 10 annual concerts at Hart House and 10 annual concerts at Convocation Hall, University of Toronto, as well as performing across Canada, the United States, and two tours of Britain and Europe.

Geza de Kresz left the quartet in 1935 and was replaced by James Levey; Harry Adaskin was replaced by Adolph Kodolfsky in 1938, and then Henry Milligan in 1942; and Milton Blackstone was replaced by Allard de Ridder in 1941 and Cyril Glyde in 1944. Boris Hambourg remained with the quartet throughout its existence.

Milton Blankstein was born in New York in 1894 and died in Toronto in 1974. He moved to Toronto in 1911, where he studied with Luigi von Kunits and played in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Frank Welsman) and the Academy String Quartet at the Canadian Academy of Music. He also played viola with the Hart House Quartet and served as their business manager from 1923 until his retirement in 1941.