Sidney Berg, 81, died April 30, 2000, in Virginia Beach. He was preceded in death by his parents, Anna Rosenbloom Berg and Robert Berg (of blessed memory.) Sidney Berg was a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he received his B.M. and M.M. degrees in music education. He came to Norfolk in 1944 as band director and later orchestra director at Maury High School. The band, under his leadership for 19 years, earned national recognition. In 1963, Sidney became director of music education for the Norfolk Public School System. He established, over the next 23, a string and harp program and a series of All City Annual Concerts at Chrysler Hall. He also organized and conducted an All City Wind Ensemble. He was, for 42, the principal timpanist for the Norfolk (now Virginia) Symphony. He became the founding and principal conductor of the Tidewater Youth Orchestra in 1972.
Mr. Berg served as president of the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association and the Virginia Music Educators Association. The American School of Band Directors Association awarded him in 1975 the coveted Edwin Franko Goldman Award for distinguished service in the school band field. In 1985, Sidney, founded and conducted the Tidewater Winds Professional Concert Band, beginning it's sixteenth season this July. Sidney enjoyed the support of the public and was honored to see the concert halls filled to capacity. It was his joy to touch people with music. He was elected to membership in 1996 to the American Bandmaster Association, the most prestigious organization of band directors in North America. He was to be awarded in May an honorary degree, Doctor of Music, from the Shenandoah University.
He was a member of Congregation Beth El and its men's club, the Brith Sholom, and was active in the Jewish community including serving on the Community Relation Council (CRC) of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. He was a 32nd-Degree Mason with Ruth Masonic Lodge No. 1 and was a member of the Scottish Rite Bodies. One of Sidney's greatest joys was his trip to Israel with his wife and their entire family in 1992 to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
Survivors include his loving and devoted wife of 58 years, Betty Berg; two daughters, Judith and her husband, Martin Freedman, Ilene and her husband, Mark Snyder, all of Virginia Beach; a sister, Doris and her husband, Lou Sopkin, of Skokie, Ill.; four grandchildren, Aaron and Jason Freedman of Miami, Rachael Freedman and her fiancee, John Williams, of Virginia Beach, Michelle Snyder and her fiancee, Robert Fryman, of Portsmouth; and one great-grandson, Ari Nathaniel Freedman.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Sidney Berg Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Maury High School, 322 Shirley Ave., Norfolk, VA 23517 or to the Tidewater Winds, 4043 North Witchduck Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23455. H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Norfolk Chapel, is handling arrangements.