Nicolas Chumachenco or Chumachenko (27 March 1944 – 12 December 2020) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

-born

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

soloist, professor, and director of the

Queen Sofía Chamber Orchestra The Queen Sofía Chamber Orchestra ( Orquesta de Cámara Reina Sofía in Spanish), founded in 1984, is a professional chamber orchestra based in Madrid, Spain. History The Orchestra’s first performance took place at the Teatro Real in 1984 ...

. He won the Merit Diploma

Konex Award Konex Foundation Awards, or simply Konex Awards, are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation honouring Argentine cultural personalities. History and purpose Konex Awards are granted by the Konex Foundation, created in 1980 in Argentina. The p ...

in 1999, as one of the best Bow Instrument Performer of that decade in Argentina.

Biography

Chumachenco was born in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, in Nazi-occupied

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, to Ukrainian parents who left Poland at the end of the Second World War. He grew up and started his musical training in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Chumachenco left Argentina to study in the United States at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

with

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilnius, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian classical violin styl ...

and later at the

Curtis Institute The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

with

Efrem Zimbalist Efrem Zimbalist (April 21 .S. April 9 1889 – February 22, 1985) was a Russian and American concert violinist, composer, conducting, conductor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music. Early life Efrem Zimbalist was born on April 9, 1 ...

and won awards at the

International Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

and the

Queen Elisabeth Music Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition (, ) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in City of Brussels, Brussels. The competition is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1 ...

. Chumachenco appeared as soloist with many orchestras conducted by artists such as

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Biography Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...

Peter Maag Ernst Peter Johannes Maag (10 May 1919 – 16 April 2001) was a Swiss conductor. Early life Peter Maag was born on 10 May 1919 in St. Gallen, Switzerland and died on 16 April 2001 in Verona, Italy. His father, Otto, was a Lutheran minister, ...

, and

Rudolf Kempe Rudolf Kempe (14 June 1910 – 12 May 1976) was a German conductor. Biography Kempe was born in Dresden, where from the age of fourteen he studied at the Dresden State Opera School. He played oboe in the opera orchestra of Dortmund and ...

. Chumachenco was first violin of the Zurich Quartet, professor of violin at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and served as leader and music director of the

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. He died in

Schallstadt Schallstadt (; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Schallsched'') is a town in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is known for its wine production and celebrates an annual wine festival in late summe ...

, Germany.

Family

His sister

Ana Chumachenco Ana Chumachenco is an Italian born violinist of Argentinian, Ukrainian, and German descent. Biography Ana Chumachenco was born in Padova, Italy, on 23 June 1945. From the age of four, Chumachenco practiced violin under the guidance of her fathe ...

(born 1945) is professor of violin at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater

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 ...

. His son Eric Chumachenco (born 1964) is a classical pianist and holds a teaching position at the University

Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg ( German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the "Mozarteum" name in Salzburg municipality; the International Mozarteu ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chumachenco, Nicolas 1944 births 2020 deaths USC Thornton School of Music alumni Curtis Institute of Music alumni Polish violinists Polish people of Ukrainian descent Male violinists 21st-century violinists 21st-century male musicians Musicians from Kraków