Raphael Bronstein (June 25, 1896 – November 4, 1988) was a Lithuanian-born American

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 ...

ist and violin professor.

Early life

He was born in a Jewish family in

Vilnius, Lithuania Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and studied violin with

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 ...

at the

St. Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory () (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members ...

. He arrived in the United States in 1923 to take a job as an assistant to Auer. Bronstein had one daughter, Ariana Bronne, who taught at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

Career

Bronstein's teaching career spanned 65 years and was responsible for a large number of the current generation of leading violin teachers and performers. He taught at the

Hartt School The Hartt School is the performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford, a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and Moshe Paranov, Hartt has been part of the University of Hartford since it ...

in Hartford,

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, Manhattan School of Music,

Queens College, City University of New York Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

and the

Graduate Center of the City University of New York The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Division of Graduate Studies at City University ...

. He is remembered annually at the Manhattan School of Music with the Raphael Bronstein Award. Bronstein's students have included

Elmar Oliveira Elmar Oliveira (born June 28, 1950) is an American violinist. Early life The son of Portuguese immigrants, Elmar Oliveira was born in Naugatuck, Connecticut. Oliveira was nine when he began studying the violin with his brother John. At age 16 h ...

, Margaret Jones Wiles, Michael Ludwig, Martha Strongin Katz, Lya Stern,

Jay Zhong Jay Zhong (born January 13, 1973) is a contemporary Chinese-American classical violinist. He was born in Beijing, China. Zhong, one of the last private pupils of Russian violin pedagogue Raphael Bronstein, also studied with Bronstein's student El ...

, Kerry McDermott, Judith Morse, Estelle Kerner,

Richard Auldon Clark Richard Auldon Clark is an American conductor specializing in music by contemporary composers. He is Conductor and music director of both the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, which he founded in 1987, and the Butler Symphony Orchestra. He has premier ...

and his own daughter Ariana Bronne. Daniel Kobialka and Phillip Ruder are also among Bronstein's most noteworthy students. He founded and conducted the Bronstein Symphonietta in 1949. He wrote the ''Science of Violin Playing.''Bronstein, Raphael (2016). ''The Science of Violin Playing'', Echo Point Books & Media; Reprint ed. edition (July 15, 2016), .

Later life

He died at St. Luke's Hospital in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

on November 4, 1988.

Early life

Career

Later life

References

Further reading