'''Eddie Wittstein''' (February 22, 1885 – December 22, 1975) was an American bandleader popular in [[New Haven, Connecticut]] and [[Yale University]] in the first half of the 20th century.
Wittstein grew up in New Haven, and was performing professionally in a band by the time he was 14. He was awarded a music scholarship to Yale in 1904, and was [[concertmaster]] for the [[Yale Symphony Orchestra]]. He started an orchestra that played for silent films after graduation.<ref name="1975yale"/>
Wittstein and his orchestra began performing regularly in the Yale dining hall during meals. In 1910, he debuted [[Cole Porter]]'s "Bingo Eli Yale," a Yale fight song which is still sung.<ref name="cole"/> Wittstein also conducted the annual proms at Yale for 52 years, starting around 1912.<ref name="nytimes74">Knight, Michael (20 April 1974). [https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/20/archives/yalies-foxtrot-at-prom-five-years-after-it-was-dropped-as.html Yalie Fox‐Trot at Pro, Five Years After It Was Dropped as Old‐Fashioned], ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref><ref name="cole">Kimball, Robert. ''Cole Porter at Yale'', in [https://books.google.com/books?id=QfSLDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 A Cole Porter Companion] (Don M. Randel et al., eds.), p. 4 (2016)</ref><ref name="people74">Harrison, Norma (17 June 1974). [https://people.com/archive/ballroom-is-back-and-duchin-is-king-vol-1-no-16/ Ballroom is Back and Duchin Is King], ''People''</ref>
A 1924 newspaper profile credited Wittstein for launching the careers of opera singer [[Rosa Ponselle]], dancer [[Allyn King]], and actress/dancer [[Diana Allen]]. According to the story, after Wittstein started playing violin for Yale students about 20 years prior. Ponselle was a cashier in the restaurant which hired Wittstein to play, and brought her on to sing. Allen was then brought on as a performer for Wittstein's budding "cabaret". After those two left for New York, Wittstein brought on King.<ref name="1924one">(20 June 1924). [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/46920392/ He's a Star Maker], ''Danville Bee''</ref> Broadway composer [[Harold Rome]] also played for piano for Wittstein's band while attending Yale in 1927.<ref name="rome">Zimmers, Tighe E. [https://books.google.com/books?id=geKvAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 Lyrical Satirical Harold Rome: A Biography of the Broadway Composer-Lyricist], pp. 6, 199 (2014)</ref>
Wittstein, still conducting at age 89, was highlighted in a 1974 article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' about a revival of Yale's annual prom.<ref name="nytimes74"/> He died in December 1975.<ref name="1975yale">Myers, Jennifer (14 January 1976). [http://digital.library.yale.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/yale-ydn/id/140327/rec/4 Prom leader Eddie Wittstein succumbs at 90], ''Yale Daily News''</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== *[https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/1832/ Sheet music for "Why Don't You Answer Me, Daddy?"] (Wittstein composer), DigitalCommons at UMaine *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=injkBIbCbwE Will You Wait A Year or Two?], Eddie Wittstein and His Orchestra 1931 (YouTube)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittstein, Eddie}} [[Category:1885 births]] [[Category:1975 deaths]] [[Category:American bandleaders]] [[Category:Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut]] [[Category:20th-century American people]]