Nelli Efimovna Shkolnikova (8 July 19282 February 2010) was a Russian Jewish classical violinist who spent many years teaching in Australia and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. She was born in the Ukrainian village of

Zolotonosha Zolotonosha ( uk, Золотоноша , yi, זאלאטאנאשא) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast (region) in central Ukraine. Located at around , the city serves as the administrative center of Zolotonosha Raion (district). It hosts th ...

. At the age of three, she moved with her family to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, and soon displayed aptitude for the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

. At the age of five she entered the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

, where she studied with Lillia Kossodo and Yuri Yankelevich.Faculty of the VCA and Music
/ref> She played her first concerto at age eight. She won the 1953 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris when she was 25.Doremi
/ref> She then embarked on an international performing career, as well as teaching. She appeared in concert in the then

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, Europe, USA,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Japan, Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. She became a faculty member at the Gnessin Institute of Music in Moscow. Between 1970 and 1982, she was barred from leaving the Soviet Union. When she was finally allowed to leave, she defected to the West in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

on 26 November 1982.Indiana University
/ref> She settled in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, where she taught at the

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus of the ...

(VCA), an offer made to her after meeting the conductor John Hopkins in Germany. She became the Victorian Arts Centre’s first Artist-in-Residence. In 1987, on the recommendation of

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...

, she was invited to join the faculty of

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

Jacobs School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

as professor of violin. She later returned to her post at the VCA in Melbourne. She produced a great number of recordings in the Soviet Union, although few of them have been available outside Russia. She attracted praise for her recordings of the

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

and

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

violin concertos (1959, 1973; under

Kirill Kondrashin Kirill Petrovich Kondrashin (, ''Kirill Petrovič Kondrašin''; – 7 March 1981) was a Soviet and Russian conductor. People's Artist of the USSR (1972). Early life Kondrashin was born in Moscow to a family of orchestral musicians. Having spent ...

and

Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE (russian: Генна́дий Никола́евич Рожде́ственский; 4 May 1931 – 16 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian conductor. Biography Gennady Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. ...

respectively), and some shorter pieces by Khachaturian, Paganini and Ysaÿe (recorded 26 June 1953, shortly after winning the Long-Thibaud Competition). Nelli Shkolnikova died in Melbourne, following a long battle with cancer, on 2 February 2010.Obituary, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'', 4 February 2010, p. 23

References

Sources

Indiana University

University of Melbourne: News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shkolnikova, Nelli 1928 births 2010 deaths Ukrainian classical violinists Russian classical violinists Violin pedagogues Musicians from Melbourne Musicians from Moscow Indiana University faculty Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition prize-winners Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia) Ukrainian Jews 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century Australian musicians Women classical violinists 20th-century women musicians Women music educators