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Frédéric Louis Ritter, composer and music professor, was born in Strasbourg on 22 June 1834. His family name was Caballero, and his surname was translated from the Spanish word for "gentleman" to the German word for "knight." Both evoke a similar chivalric ideal. Growing up in Alsace, Ritter was influenced by French and Germanic musical styles. He studied first with Hans M. Schletterer and Hauser. Starting at the age of 16, he studied in Paris under the supervision of his cousin Georges Kastner. "Possessed with the idea that beyond the Rhine he would find better opportunities for the study of composition," Ritter ran away to modern-day Germany. This was usual for serious students of composition at that time. Ritter returned to Lorraine in 1852, and soon accepted a position as professor of music at the Protestant Seminary of Fénéstrange.
Some of Ritter’s relatives immigrated to the United States and persuaded him to follow in 1856. John Shepard notes that "when he came to the U.S., he transported a musical library which would have been notable for a collector at the end of his career; for a 23-year-old man it was nothing short of extraordinary." Ritter settled in Cincinnati, where he stayed for a few years. He founded the Cecilia and Philharmonic Societies while he was there. In 1862 he moved to New York City, where he directed the Sacred Harmonic and Arion Choral Societies and established what is considered to be the city’s first music festival in 1867 at Steinway Hall. That same year, Ritter was made Professor of Music at Vassar College and assumed responsibilities as Director of the department in 1878. He supervised the installation of its first organ. Ritter died while in Antwerp on holiday 6 July 1891 at the age of 57.
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