Ivan Alexander Galamian (; April 14, 1981) was an Armenian-American violin teacher of the twentieth century who was the violin teacher of many seminal violin players including

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

and Kyung Wha Chung.

Biography

Galamian was born in

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

, Iran to an Armenian family. Soon after his birth, the family immigrated to Moscow, Russia. He studied with Konstantin Mostras (a student of Leopold Auer) at the School of the Philharmonic Society from 1916 to 1922. He was jailed at age fifteen by the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

government. The opera manager at the

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...

rescued Galamian; the manager argued that Galamian was a necessary part of the opera orchestra, and subsequently the government released him. Soon thereafter he moved to Paris and studied under Lucien Capet in 1922 and 1923. In 1924 he debuted in Paris. Due to a combination of nerves, health, and a fondness for teaching, Galamian eventually gave up the stage in order to teach full-time. He became a faculty member at the Conservatoire Rachmaninoff where he taught from 1925 to 1929. His earliest pupils in Paris include Veda Reynolds, the first woman in Philadelphia Orchestra's first-violin section, and

Paul Makanowitzky Paul Makanowitzky (June 20, 1920 Stockholm – February 24, 1998 Freeport, Maine) was an American violinist, and violin teacher. Life He studied with Ivan Galamian, and Jacques Thibaud. He made his debut in 1929, in Salle Gaveau, Paris, and Ne ...

. In 1937 Galamian moved permanently to the United States. In 1941 he married Judith Johnson in New York City. He taught violin at the Curtis Institute of Music beginning in 1944, and became the head of the violin department at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in 1946. He wrote two violin

method Method (, methodos, from μετά/meta "in pursuit or quest of" + ὁδός/hodos "a method, system; a way or manner" of doing, saying, etc.), literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In re ...

books, ''Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching'' (1962) and ''Contemporary Violin Technique'' (1962). Galamian incorporated aspects of both the Russian and French schools of violin technique in his approach. In 1944 he founded the

Meadowmount School of Music The Meadowmount School of Music, founded in 1944 by Ivan Galamian, is a 7-week summer school in the town of Lewis, Essex County, New York, Lewis (mailing address Westport, New York, Westport) in Upstate New York for young violinists, cellists, vio ...

, a summer program in Westport, New York. The school has remained operational and has trained thousands of world-class musicians. Galamian taught concurrently at Curtis, Juilliard, and Meadowmount schools. He did not retire and maintained an active full-time work schedule. He died at the age of 78 in 1981 in New York City. His wife subsequently took on an active role in managing the Meadowmount School. Galamian's most notable teaching assistants — later distinguished teachers in their own right — were

Margaret Pardee Margaret Pardee Butterly (May 10, 1920 – January 26, 2016) was an American violinist and violin teacher. Life and career Pardee was born in 1920 and grew up in Valdosta, Georgia. She graduated from the Juilliard School where she studied with ...

Dorothy DeLay Dorothy DeLay (March 31, 1917 – March 24, 2002) was an American violin teacher, instructor, primarily at the Juilliard School, Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Cincinnati. Life Dorothy DeLay was born on March 31, 1917, in Medic ...

, Sally Thomas, Pauline Scott, Robert Lipsett, Lewis Kaplan,

David Cerone David Cerone was a co-founder of the ENCORE School for Strings, where he co-directed and served as faculty member since 1985. Mr. Cerone serves as a juror for many prominent national and international violin competitions and presents master class ...

, and Elaine Richey. Galamian held honorary degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music,

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

, and the

Cleveland Institute of Music The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. The school was founded in 1920 by a group of supporters led by Martha Bell Sanders and Mary Hutchens Smith, with Ernest Bloch serving as its first dire ...

. He was an honorary member of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

, London.

Notable pupils

* Charles Avsharian * Michael Avsharian * William Barbini * * Serge Blanc (violinist) * Anker Buch * Robert Canetti * Stuart Canin * Jonathan Carney * José Francisco del Castillo * Charles Martin Castleman * Joseph V. Chen * Kyung Wha Chung *

* Glenn Dicterow * Philippe Djokic * Eugene Fodor * Miriam Fried * Erick Friedman * Gregory Fulkerson *

Joseph Genualdi Joseph Genualdi is an American violinist. Early life and education The son of professional musicians, Genualdi was born in Clinton, Iowa, and grew up in Connecticut. His formal training began at age 11 as a private student of Broadus Erle at Yale ...

* Shirley Givens * Betty-Jean Hagen * Heimo Haitto *

Daniel Heifetz Daniel Alan Heifetz (born November 20, 1948) is an American concert violinist and pedagogue best known as the Founder of the Heifetz International Music Institute. His career has been focused on education and the art of communication through perf ...

Ulf Hoelscher Ulf Hoelscher (born 17 January 1942 in Kitzingen) is a German violinist. He has been soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He has recorded numerous concertos by S ...

* Carmel Kaine * Dong-Suk Kang * Martha Strongin Katz * Ani Kavafian * Ida Kavafian *

Chin Kim Chin Kim (born 1957) is a Korean-born American classical violinist, largely educated in the United States through the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music. Activities Chin Kim has performed extensively throughout North America, Eur ...

* Young Uck Kim * Helen Kwalwasser *

Fredell Lack Fredell Lack (February 19, 1922 – August 20, 2017) was an American violinist. Noted as a concert soloist, recording artist, chamber musician, and teacher, she was the C. W. Moores Distinguished Professor of Violin at the Moores School of ...

* Jaime Laredo * Isidor Lateiner * Sergiu Luca * Malcolm Lowe * * Gil Morgenstern * David Nadien *Sally O'Reilly *

* Michael Rabin *

Gerardo Ribeiro Gerardo Ribeiro (born 1950, Oporto, Portugal) is a violinist who serves on the faculty of the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music under Ivan Galamian. He previously taught at Central Michi ...

* Eugene Sârbu * Berl Senofsky * Simon Shaheen * Simon Standage * Arnold Steinhardt * Albert Stern * Michel Tagrine * Arve Tellefsen *Sally Thomas * Gwen Thompson *

Andor Toth Andor John Toth (June 16, 1925 – November 28, 2006) was an American classical violinist, conductor and educator with a musical career spanning over six decades. Toth played his violin on the World War II battlefields of Aachen, Germany; performe ...

* Charles Treger * Ismael Vazquez * Robert Vernon (musician) * Donald Weilerstein * Rebekah Yoon *

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman (; born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zukerman. He began his musica ...

Edited works

*Bach, Concerto No. 1 (A minor). New York: International Music Company, 1960. *Bach, Concerto No. 1 (D minor). New York: International Music Company, 1960. *Bach, Concerto No. 2 (E major). New York: International Music Company, 1960. *Bach, Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. New York: International Music Company, 1971. (Includes facsimile of the original) *Brahms, Sonatas, Op. 78, 100, 108. New York: International Music Company. *Bruch, Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46. New York: International Music Company, 1975. *Conus, Concerto in E minor. New York: International Music Company, 1976. *Don't, Twenty-four Etudes and Caprices, Op. 35. New York: International Music Company, 1968. *Don't, Twenty-four Exercises, Op. 37. New York: International Music Company, 1967. *Dvořák, Concerto in A minor, Op. 53. New York: International Music Company, 1975. *Fiorillo, Thirty-six Studies or Caprices. New York: International Music Company, 1964. *Galaxy Music Company, 1963 and 1966. *Gaviniés, Twenty-four Studies. New York: International Music Company, 1963. *Kreutzer, Forty-two Etudes. New York: International Music Company, 1963. *Mazas, Etudes Speciales, Op. 36 Part 1. New York: International Music Company, 1964. *Mazas, Etudes Brilliantes, Op. 36 Part 2. New York: International Music Company, 1972. *Paganini, Twenty-four Caprices. New York: International Music Company, 1973. *Rode, Twenty-four Caprices. New York: International Music Company, 1962. *Saint-Saëns, Caprice, Op. 52, No. 6. New York: International Music Company. *Sinding, Suite in A minor, Op. 10. New York: International Music Company, 1970. *Tchaikovsky, Three Pieces, Op. 42. New York: International Music Company, 1977. *Vivaldi, Concerto in A minor. New York: International Music Company, 1956. *Vivaldi, Concerto in G minor, Op. 12, No. 1. New York: International Music Company, 1973. *Vivaldi, Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, Op. 3, No. 11. New York: International Music Company, 1964. *Vivaldi, Concerto for Two Violins in A minor. Piccioli-Galamian, New York: International Music Company, 1956. *Vieuxtemps, Concerto No. 5 in A minor, Op. 37, New York: International Music Company, 1957. *Wieniawski, Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22. New York: International Music Company, 1957. *Wieniawski, Ecole Moderne, Op. 10. New York: International Music Company, 1973.

Publications

* * * The book principles of violin playing and teaching is translated to several languages in the world. Chinese version is done by Professor Peter Shi-xiang Zhang, Spanish by Renato Zanettovich, Persian by Dr. Mohsen Kazemian.

References

External links