Mykola Filaretovich Kolessa (6 December 1903 – 8 June 2006) was a Ukrainian composer and conductor, born in

Sambir Sambir ( uk, Самбір, pl, Sambor, yi, סאמבאָר, Sambor) is a city in Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Sambir Raion (district) and is located close to the border with Poland. Sambir hosts ...

near

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

. His father Filaret was a Ukrainian ethnomusicologist and composer and his cousin was the pianist

Lubka Kolessa Lubka Oleksandrivna Kolessa ( uk, Любов Олександрівна Колесса; 19 May 1902 in Lemberg, Austro-Hungarian Empire – 15 August 1997 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) was a classical pianist and professor of piano. Biography Edu ...

. He graduated from Lysenko Higher Musical Institute, then studied in Prague under

Vítězslav Novák Vítězslav Augustín Rudolf Novák (5 December 1870 – 18 July 1949) was a Czech composer and academic teacher at the Prague Conservatory. Stylistically, he was part of the neo-romantic tradition, and his music is considered an important ...

and

Otakar Ostrčil Otakar Ostrčil (25 February 1879 in Prague – 20 August 1935 in Prague) was a Czech composer and conductor. He is noted for symphonic works ''Impromptu'', ''Suite in C Minor'', and ''Symfonietta'', and in his opera compositions '' Poupě'' an ...

, and taught at Lviv Conservatory. His works include two

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning co ...

(1949 and 1966), symphonic variations (1931), a 'Ukrainian Suite' (1928), all for orchestra, and 'In the Mountains' for string orchestra (1972), and a number of chamber and incidental works as well as some song cycles. His composition style was tonal and conservative and has been linked to that of

Alexander Glazunov Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov; ger, Glasunow (, 10 August 1865 – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 190 ...

, although influences from Bartok and the early 20th-century French school can be heard as well. As a conductor he worked with ensembles such as the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ballet Theater, the

Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra The Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra ( uk, Симфонічний оркестр Українського радіо, translit=Symfonichnyi orkestr Ukrainskoho radio; previously NRCU Symphony Orchestra, uk, Симфонічний оркестр ...

, and the Trembita Choir, becoming the founder of the Lviv conducting school.NRCU Symphony Orchestra website
, nrcu.gov.ua; accessed 13 March 2017.

References

External links

* 1903 births 2006 deaths 20th-century conductors (music) Ukrainian classical composers Ukrainian conductors (music) Ukrainian centenarians Male conductors (music) Chevaliers of the Order of Merit (Ukraine) People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the title of Hero of Ukraine Recipients of the Shevchenko National Prize Burials at Lychakiv Cemetery Academic staff of Lviv Conservatory People from Sambir Men centenarians 20th-century male musicians Ukrainian Austro-Hungarians People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Recipients of the title of Merited Artist of Ukraine {{ukraine-composer-stub