Alexander Borisovich Sverjensky (Александр Борисович Сверженский) (26 March 1901 – 3 October 1971) was a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n-born Australian pianist and teacher. Sverjensky was born in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire, in 1901. He started piano lessons at age 12. From age 14, he studied at the

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Conservatory under

Alexander Glazunov Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov ( – 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 1905 and 1928 and was instrumental i ...

. (Some sources say he studied under

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

Alexander Siloti Alexander Ilyich Siloti (also Ziloti; Russian: Александр Ильич Зилоти; 9 October 18638 December 1945) was a Russian virtuoso pianist, conductor, and composer. Biography Alexander Siloti was born on his father's estate n ...

.) He also studied law at

Tomsk Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...

. In 1922 he left Russia for China. He accompanied the soprano Lydia Lipkovska on a tour of China, Japan, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, Australia and New Zealand, and then appeared as a soloist in Europe. He decided to settle permanently in Australia in 1925. He appeared in many recitals and concerts throughout the 1920s and 1930s. He was the first person to play the music of

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

in Australia, and also championed other Russian composers such as

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, scientific transliteration: ''Aleksandr Nikolaevič Skrjabin''; also transliterated variously as Skriabin, Skryabin, and (in French) Scriabine. The composer himselused the French spelling "Scriabine" which was a ...

Nikolai Medtner Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (; – 13 November 1951) was a Russian composer and pianist. After a period of comparative obscurity in the 25 years immediately after his death, he is now becoming recognized as one of the most significant Russian com ...

Mily Balakirev Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev ( , ; ,BGN/PCGN romanization of Russian, BGN/PCGN romanization: ; ALA-LC romanization of Russian, ALA-LC system: ; ISO 9, ISO 9 system: . ; – )Russia was still using Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in E ...

, Glazunov and Rachmaninoff. He was naturalised a British subject in 1930. He first started appearing as a soloist with the ABC Sydney Orchestra (forerunner of the

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...

) in 1933, and he founded his own chamber music trio in 1936. He was the first pianist to play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, in 1941 under

Percy Code Edward Percival "Percy" Code (3 July 1888 – 16 October 1953) was an Australian classical composer and musician, specialising in cornet and trumpet. He is best known for his compositions for brass band, including many solo works. Biography Perc ...

. From 1938 he became a piano teacher at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music, and had a profound influence on a generation of Australian and New Zealand pianists and their own students. These included

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, Anne Harvey (mother of

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(mother and teacher of Tamara Anna Cislowska), Daniel Herscovitch, Julie Adam, Grant Foster, Rhondda Gillespie, Robert Weatherburn,

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, David Miller,

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, Alison Bauld, Garry Laycock,

Pamela Sverjensky Pamela commonly refers to: * ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740 * Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname. Pamela may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pamela Spence, a Tur ...

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, Helen Priestner Edmonds and Edward Theodore. He retired from his teaching position in 1969. Alexander Sverjensky was married three times. First was Mary Murdoch in 1927; they divorced in 1943. Two months later he married Enith Clarke, a piano teacher. They divorced in 1951, and a month later he married Isla Draper. He died in Sydney on 3 October 1971, survived by his third wife and two sons (one from his first marriage). The

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

holds a collection of his programs and other papers.

Sources

Australian Dictionary of Biography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sverjensky, Alexander 1901 births 1971 deaths Musicians from Riga Russian classical pianists Male classical pianists Australian classical pianists Academic staff of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Piano educators 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century Russian male musicians Latvian emigrants to Australia