Kochânski, Paul (actually, Pawel)

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Kochânski, Paul (actually, Pawel)

Kochânski, Paul (actually, Pawel), noted Polish violinist; b. Orel, Sept. 14, 1887; d. N.Y., Jan. 12, 1934. He studied with Mlynarski in Warsaw, and in 1901 became concertmaster of the Warsaw Phil. In 1903 he went to Brussels to study with César Thomson. In 1907 he was appointed prof, at the Warsaw Cons., and in 1913 at the St. Petersburg Cons. From 1917 to 1919 he taught at the Kiev Cons., then went to the U.S., making his debut with the N.Y. Sym. Orch. on Feb. 14, 1921. From 1924 he taught at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. He excelled in the performance of modern works. He did a great service in promoting the violin music of Szymanowski, inspiring him to write his Mity (Myths; 1915) and 1st Violin Concerto (1916) for him. He made many transcriptions for violin and piano.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire