Nikolai Grigoryevich Sokoloff (28 May 1886 – 25 September 1965) was a Russian-American conductor and

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 ...

ist.

Biography

He was born in Kiev, and studied music at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

. From 1916 to 1917 he was musical director of the San Francisco People's Philharmonic Orchestra, where he insisted on including women in his orchestra and paying them the same salaries as men received. Before being appointed as the first music director of

The Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most o ...

, Sokoloff served as a violinist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra and as concertmaster in the Russian Symphony Orchestra, which at the time was based in New York. He played recitals for American troops in Europe during World War I, and later met Adella Prentiss Hughes in New York City, who encouraged him to play a recital in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

in February 1918. After Hughes heard Sokoloff speaking about the need for public school children to be exposed to professional orchestras, she encouraged him to move to Cleveland. At first, his role was to survey music education within Cleveland’s public schools. Soon, however, Hughes and Sokoloff, along with John L. Severance, vice-president of the Musical Arts Association (founded by Hughes in 1915), sought to establish a permanent orchestra in Cleveland. As a result, the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra (later renamed The Cleveland Orchestra) was formed and the ensemble gave its first concert on December 11, 1918 at Cleveland’s

Grays Armory Grays Armory is a historic building in Cleveland, Ohio. It was built by the Cleveland Grays, a private military company which was founded in 1837.

. Sokoloff served as the Orchestra’s music director for another 14 years, until his departure in 1932. During his tenure in Cleveland, Sokoloff expanded both the number of musicians in the Orchestra and the number of programs in its season concert series; he also took the Orchestra on tours across the country. Additionally, Sokoloff led the Orchestra in its first recording project — a 1924 performance of

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 ...

’s '' 1812 Overture'', on the Brunswick Label. In the Orchestra’s second season, the ensemble moved to the Masonic Auditorium, which remained its home until the completion of Severance Hall in 1931. Under Sokoloff’s musical leadership, the city had an established orchestra of its own. Although the end of Sokoloff’s time in Cleveland was spoiled by negative press about his personality, conducting style, and lack of cordiality, he made a point to depart on a positive note. When Sokoloff was asked if he “had anything to say to Cleveland before leaving,” Sokoloff remarked, “Tell them good luck, and that I’ve had a good time." Between 1935 and 1938 he directed the

Federal Music Project The Federal Music Project (FMP) was a part of the New Deal program Federal Project Number One provided by the U.S. federal government which employed musicians, conductors and composers during the Great Depression. In addition to performing thousan ...

, a New Deal program that employed musicians to educate the public about music. From 1938 to 1941 he directed the

Seattle Symphony Orchestra The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchest ...

and in 1941 founded the Chamber Music Society (now known as the La Jolla Music Society) in

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

, California.

Notable recording premieres

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

, '' Symphony No. 2'', Cleveland Orchestra, 1928

Bibliography

* * *Rosenberg, Donald. ''The Cleveland Orchestra Story: "Second to None."'' Cleveland: Gray & Company, 2000.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sokoloff, Nikolai 1886 births 1965 deaths Conductors (music) from the Russian Empire People of the New Deal arts projects Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States