Trustees Honor Roll

Zorman, Ivan Sr.

Music Director, Composer and Teacher (1858- 1912)
Inducted on November, 29 1997

Ivan Zorman, Sr. was the "Johnny Apple (strudel) seed" of Slovenian music. Born in Slovenia and a student at the Conservatory of Music in Vienna, Ivan played in the orchestra of Johann Strauss, Jr., the world-famous Waltz King. Coming to America in 1883, Ivan founded the first Slovenian orchestras in the U.S. (Calumet, Michigan -1895; the "Austrian Cornet Band," Cleveland - 1897) and served as an organist, choir director, teacher, and bandmaster in Slovenian-American communities around the country, including Leadville, Colorado, and fly, Minnesota, before finally settling in Cleveland circa 1903. Based primarily at St. Paul's Church, Ivan composed religious and secular music, founded several Slovenian singing societies, organized a brass band, and taught vocal and instrumental music. A major thread in the fabric of Slovenian-American culture, Ivan Zorman, Sr. nurtured the music that would become the basis for Cleveland-Style Polkas.