Raya Garbousova (; September 25, 1909 – January 28, 1997) was a Russian-born American

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and teacher.

Early life and career

Born in Tiflis, into a Jewish family.Gdal Saleski. Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
/ref> According to the biography contained in the program booklet for the 1997 memorial concert in her honor in

DeKalb, Illinois DeKalb ( ) is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,290 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is named after decorated Franconian-French war hero Johann de Kalb, who died during the Ameri ...

, she made her formal debut in

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 ...

in 1923 and left the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1925. She lived and performed in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and gave her first performance in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1935. In December 1938, she toured the UK as supporting artist to

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891, Linz – 8 January 1948, London) was an Austrian lyric tenor and film actor. He performed the tenor role in numerous operas, including ''Don Giovanni'' by Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte. Early life Richard Tauber was b ...

. She emigrated to the United States in 1939. In 1948, she married cardiologist Kurt Biss and settled in DeKalb, Illinois. She taught at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

from 1973 until her retirement in 1991. Besides teaching at NIU, Garbousova also taught at the

Hartt College of Music 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 ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, and gave many master classes at prominent musical institutions. They raised two sons, Gregory Biss (born 1942) and Paul Biss (born 1944). Gregory is a pianist and composer. Paul is a violinist and violist who is married to violinist

Miriam Fried Miriam Fried (; born 9 September 1946) is a Romanian-born Israeli classical violinist and pedagogue. Biography Miriam Fried was born in Satu Mare, Romania but moved with her family to Israel when she was aged 2. Her family settled in Herzliya. ...

; one of their children,

Jonathan Biss Jonathan Biss (born September 18, 1980) is an American pianist, teacher, and writer based in Philadelphia. He is the co-artistic director (with Mitsuko Uchida) of the Marlboro Music Festival. Early life and education Biss was born into a fami ...

, is a classical pianist. During her performing career, she performed with many of the world's leading orchestras and conductors. To many who knew her, she was particularly associated with the cello music of

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...

. Barber wrote his

cello concerto A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instru ...

for her, and she performed its world premiere with

Serge Koussevitzky Serge Koussevitzky (born Sergey Aleksandrovich Kusevitsky;Koussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his sig ...

and the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...

in 1946. Her recording of the Barber

Sonata for Cello and Piano A cello sonata is piece written sonata form, often with the instrumentation of a cello taking solo role with piano accompaniment. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were composed in the 18th century by Francesco Geminiani and Antonio Vivaldi, and ...

is also well known in this context. For her students, in addition to providing the typical technical and musical instruction which master teachers provide, she added the perspective of having personally known many of the great composers and string soloists of the twentieth century.

Legacy

In the booklet of letters and biographies which was distributed privately to participants in the 1997 Memorial Concert for Raya Garbousova,

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

stated, "For me, Raya was my closest, dearest friend." In this same document,

János Starker János Starker (; ; July 5, 1924 – April 28, 2013) was a Hungarian-American cellist. From 1958 until his death, he taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. Starker is conside ...

stated, "But play she did and on a level of artistry that earned her a place among the handful of truly greats of the century."

Partial discography

*Samuel Barber: Concerto for Cello & Orchestra (

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

LP, DL 10132, 1966)

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garbousova, Raya 1909 births 1997 deaths Northern Illinois University faculty University of Hartford Hartt School faculty Musicians from Tbilisi Soviet emigrants to the United States Soviet classical cellists American people of Russian descent American music educators Russian Jews Jewish American classical musicians American women music educators 20th-century American musicians American women classical cellists American classical cellists 20th-century American women musicians American women academics