Ilona Feher or Ilona Fehér (, ; 1 December 1901 – January 1988), was one of the representatives of the Hungarian Violin School whose greats include

Joseph Böhm Joseph Böhm (; 4 April 1795 – 28 March 1876) was a Hungarian violinist and a director of the Vienna Conservatory. Life He was born in Pest, to a Jewish family. He was taught by his father and by Pierre Rode. His brother Franz Böhm (1788 ...

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian Violin, violinist, Conducting, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely ...

Jakob Grün Jakob Moritz Grün (; 13 March 1837 – 1 October 1916) was an Austrian violinist of Hungarian origin. After positions as principal violinist in the court orchestras of Weimar and Hannover, he was, from 1868 to 1897, concertmaster of the Vienna ...

Leopold Auer Leopold von Auer (; June 7, 1845July 15, 1930) was a Hungarian violinist, academic, conductor, composer, and instructor. Many of his students went on to become prominent concert performers and teachers. Early life and career Auer was born in ...

, Jenő Hubay, Carl Flesch,

Joseph Szigeti Joseph Szigeti (, ; 5 September 189219 February 1973) was a Hungarian violinist. Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on the violin, and move ...

, Tibor Varga, Sandor Vegh,

André Gertler André Gertler (26 July 1907 – 23 July 1998) was a Hungarian classical violinist and teacher. Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (1940–1977), Professor at the Cologne Academy of Music (1954–1957), Professor at the College of Mus ...

, Kato Havas, Paul Rolland and Geza Szilvay. She was also a noted violin

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. She was born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

and died in

Holon Holon (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. In , it had a population of , making it the List of cities in Israel, tenth most populous city in Isra ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Biography

Early years

Feher studied with

Jenő Hubay Jenő Hubay von Szalatna ( ; 15 September 185812 March 1937), also known by his German name Eugen Huber (), was a Hungarian violinist, composer and music teacher. Early life Hubay was born into a German family of musicians in Pest, Hungary ...

for six years at the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Franz Liszt Academy of Music (, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the Liszt Collection, which features several ...

. Other violin teachers of her early years were

Joseph Bloch Joseph Meyer Bloch (pronounced "block", November 6, 1917 – March 4, 2009) was an American concert pianist and professor of piano literature at the Juilliard School in New York City. During a career at Juilliard that spanned five decades, Bloc ...

Josef Smvilovitch Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura and is the only company in Japan spec ...

(also a pupil of Jenő Hubay) and

Imre Pogany Imre () is a Hungarian masculine first name, which is also in Estonian use, where the corresponding name day is 10 April. It has been suggested that it relates to the name Emeric, Emmerich or Heinrich. Its English equivalents are Emery and He ...

Europe

Between the two world wars she performed all over Europe, in particular with

Willem Mengelberg Joseph Wilhelm Mengelberg (28 March 1871 – 21 March 1951) was a Dutch conductor, famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

and the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, established in 1888 at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. It was known as the Concertgebouw Orchestra u ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Feher lived in Budapest until 1942 when she was interned with her daughter in a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

. They managed to escape in 1944, and joined Hungarian and

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) ** Fourth Czechoslovak Repu ...

partisans until the liberation by the Soviet Red Army. She later returned to the concert stage to perform only in Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe.

Emigration to Israel and teaching

In 1949 she emigrated to

to begin a new life as a violin teacher. Within 25 years she had built herself a reputation as an

Inspired Teacher Inspired Teacher (alternatively termed President's Inspired Teacher) is the highest civilian recognition for University-level teachers in the Republic of India in the form of an in-residence program with the President of India at Rashtrapati Bha ...

of strong discipline, but not without a sense of humour. Her 250 pupils include some of the most outstanding violinists such as Pinkas Zukerman,

Shlomo Mintz Shlomo Mintz (; born 30 October 1957) is a Russian-born Israeli violinist and conductor. He regularly appears with orchestras and conductors on the international scene and is heard in recitals and chamber music concerts around the world. Early l ...

Hagai Shaham Hagai Shaham (; born July 8, 1966) is an Israeli violin virtuoso. He began studying the violin at the age of six and was the last student of the late Professor Ilona Feher. He is also a violin teacher, a professor

, Ittai Shapira, Moshe Hammer and Yehonatan Berick,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

players

Shmuel Ashkenasi Shmuel Ashkenasi (; born January 11, 1941) is an Israeli violinist and teacher. Biography Born in Tel Aviv on January 11, 1941, he began his musical training at the Musical Academy of Tel-Aviv studying with legendary pedagogue Ilona Feher, the ...

and David Ehrlich as well as

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

musician, Ron Ephrat (Principal Violist Rotterdam Philharmonic),

Yaakov Rubinstein Ya’akov Rubinstein (Hebrew: יעקב רובינשטיין) is an Israeli violinist. He has performed concerts in Europe, Israel, Japan, China and in the United States since he was seven years of age. As a student of the Jerusalem Music Center, ...

(Concertmaster of the

Bamberg Symphony Orchestra The Bamberg Symphony (German: Bamberger Symphoniker – Bayerische Staatsphilharmonie) is a renowned German orchestra top-class orchestra that has been residing in Bamberg since its foundation in 1946 and travels the world as a touring orchestra. ...

) and conductor

Yoel Levi Yoel Levi (; born 16 August 1950) is an Israeli musician and conductor. Early life Born in Romania, Levi grew up in Israel. He studied at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music, receiving a Master of Arts degree with distinction. He continued studies a ...

. In addition to teaching at the Rubin Academy in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, Feher held

master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es all over the world. She frequently served as jurist in international violin competitions in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, the

Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, te ...

competition.

Awards

Feher was awarded the Golden Medal and Diploma of the

Franz Liszt Academy The Franz Liszt Academy of Music (, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the Liszt Collection, which features several ...

in Budapest. She was also made an Honorary Doctor of the

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...

Rehovot Rehovot (, / ) is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu (movement), Bilu movement, proposed the name "Rehovot ...

, Israel, and Honorary Citizen of the city of Holon which was always her home town in Israel. In a concert which was designed as a celebration of Isaac Stern's 65th birthday in Carnegie Hall, she was honored by King Solomon Award of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

References

*This article is based on an article b
Ron Ephrat
i
The Strad
a special edition dedicated to Heifetz (1988). *Dr. Samuel Appelbaum, Dr. Mark Zilberquit, Henry Roth, ''The way they play – Ilona Feher'' – Book 11, pp. 47–97, Paganinia Publications, Inc., 1983,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Feher, Ilona 1901 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Hungarian people Jewish violinists Jewish classical violinists Israeli classical violinists Israeli women violinists 20th-century Hungarian Jews Hungarian emigrants to Israel Hungarian people of Israeli descent 20th-century Israeli Jews Violin educators Musicians from Budapest 20th-century Hungarian classical violinists Hungarian women classical violinists 20th-century Hungarian women musicians Israeli women music educators Hungarian women music educators Burials at South Cemetery in Israel