Performers
Roman Totenberg
A Polish-born American violinist and teacher, Roman Totenberg became a naturalised US citizen in 1943. He began learning the violin with Alexei Ermolov in Moscow, where the family had moved in 1914 after Totenberg’s father, an architect, was transferred there for the duration of the war. Following the family’s repatriation to Poland, he continued his education with Józef Ludwik Jarzębski and with Mieczysław Michałowicz at the Warsaw Conservatory.
In 1935 he appeared in New York for the first time, settling there three years later; from 1961, he was based in Boston.
His European concert career included joint recitals with Karol Szymanowski. From the early 1930s he was a committed champion of Szymanowski’s music; the composer became his friend and held him in high esteem.
From 1958 onwards, Totenberg once again maintained close and wide-ranging ties with Poland. He performed in Warsaw, Łódź and Katowice, among other cities, and served on the juries of major violin competitions: the Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań in 1977, 1981 and 1991, and the International Violin Competition in Honour of Karol Lipiński and Henryk Wieniawski in Lublin in 1982, 1985, 1988 and 1994; in 1997 and 2003 he was its honorary chairman. From 1998 he was also among the first tutors at the Zakopane Academy of Arts, teaching at its International Masterclasses in Musical Interpretation, and from 2004 he took part in the International Chamber Music Festival at Książ. In 2000 he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.
In 1935 he appeared in New York for the first time, settling there three years later; from 1961, he was based in Boston.
His European concert career included joint recitals with Karol Szymanowski. From the early 1930s he was a committed champion of Szymanowski’s music; the composer became his friend and held him in high esteem.
From 1958 onwards, Totenberg once again maintained close and wide-ranging ties with Poland. He performed in Warsaw, Łódź and Katowice, among other cities, and served on the juries of major violin competitions: the Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań in 1977, 1981 and 1991, and the International Violin Competition in Honour of Karol Lipiński and Henryk Wieniawski in Lublin in 1982, 1985, 1988 and 1994; in 1997 and 2003 he was its honorary chairman. From 1998 he was also among the first tutors at the Zakopane Academy of Arts, teaching at its International Masterclasses in Musical Interpretation, and from 2004 he took part in the International Chamber Music Festival at Książ. In 2000 he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.
