Dounis, Demetrius Constantine

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Dounis, Demetrius Constantine

Dounis, Demetrius Constantine, Greek-American violinist and teacher; b. Athens, Dec. 7, 1886;d. Los Angeles, Aug. 13, 1954. He studied violin with Ondricek in Vienna and simultaneously enrolled as a medical student at the Univ. of Vienna; made several tours as a violinist in Europe. After World War I, he was appointed prof, at the Salonika Cons. He then lived in England and eventually settled in America; established his N.Y. studio in 1939; went to Los Angeles in 1954. He originated the technique of the “brush stroke,” in which the bow is handled naturally and effortlessly. He wrote numerous manuals.

Bibliography

V. Leland, D. Principles of Violin Playing (London, 1949); C. Costantakos, D.C. D.: His Method in Teaching the Violin (N.Y., 1988).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire