Nelli Efimovna Shkolnikova (; 8 July 19282 February 2010) was a Soviet violinist who spent many years teaching in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She was born in

Zolotonosha Zolotonosha (, ) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast (region) in central Ukraine. Located at around , the city serves as the administrative center of Zolotonosha Raion (district). It hosts the administration of Zolotonosha urban hromada, one ...

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

. At the age of three, she moved with her family to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, and soon displayed aptitude for the violin. At the age of five she entered the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

, where she studied with Lillia Kossodo and Yuri Yankelevich. She played her first

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

at age eight. She won the 1953 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris when she was 25. She then embarked on an international performing career, as well as teaching. She appeared in concert in the then Soviet Union, Europe, USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. She became a faculty member at the Gnessin Institute of Music in Moscow. Between 1970 and 1982, she was barred from leaving the Soviet Union. When she was finally allowed to leave, she defected to the West in Berlin on 26 November 1982.Indiana University
/ref> She settled in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, where she taught at the

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (FFAM). It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus ...

(VCA), an offer made to her after meeting the conductor John Hopkins in Germany. She became the Victorian Arts Centre’s first Artist-in-Residence. In 1987, on the recommendation of

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

, she was invited to join the faculty of

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

Jacobs School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

as professor of violin. She later returned to her post at the VCA in Melbourne. She produced a great number of recordings in the Soviet Union, although few of them have been available outside Russia. She attracted praise for her recordings of the

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

and

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

violin concertos (1959, 1973; under

Kirill Kondrashin Kirill Petrovich Kondrashin (; – 7 March 1981) was a Soviet and Russian conductor. People's Artist of the USSR (1972). Early life Kondrashin was born in Moscow to a family of orchestral musicians. Having spent many hours at rehearsals, he ma ...

and

Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE (; 4 May 1931 – 16 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, pianist, composer, and pedagogue. Biography Gennady Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. His parents were the noted conductor and pedagog ...

respectively), and some shorter pieces by Khachaturian, Paganini and Ysaÿe (recorded 26 June 1953, shortly after winning the Long-Thibaud Competition). Nelli Shkolnikova died in Melbourne, following a long battle with cancer, on 2 February 2010.Obituary, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', 4 February 2010, p. 23

References

Sources

Indiana University

University of Melbourne: News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shkolnikova, Nelli 1928 births 2010 deaths People from Zolotonosha Soviet classical violinists Violin educators Indiana University faculty Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition prize-winners Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state) Jewish Ukrainian musicians 20th-century Australian musicians Women classical violinists 20th-century women musicians Russian music educators Soviet music educators Moscow Conservatory alumni Soviet emigrants to Australia