Mischakoff (real name, Fischberg), Mischa
Mischakoff (real name, Fischberg), Mischa
Mischakoff (real name, Fischberg), Mischa, Russian-born American violinist; b. Proskurov, April 3, 1895; d. Petoskey, Mich., Feb. 1, 1981. Owing to a plethora of Russian-Jewish violinists named Fischberg, he decided to change his name to Mischakoff, formed by adding the Russian ending -koff to his first name, the Russian diminutive for Michael. He studied with Korguyev at the St. Petersburg Cons., graduating in 1912; made his debut that year in Berlin and then was active as an orch. player and teacher. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1921 and became a naturalized citizen in 1927. He was concertmaster of the N.Y. Sym. Orch. (1924–27), the Philadelphia Orch. (1927–29), the Chicago Sym. Orch. (1930–36), the NBC Sym. Orch. in N.Y.(1937–52), and the Detroit Sym. Orch. (1952–68), and then guest concertmaster of the Baltimore Sym. Orch. (1968–69). He was also concertmaster and soloist with the Chautauqua Sym. Orch. (summers, 1925–65); likewise led his own Mischakoff String Quartet. He taught at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. (1940–52), at Wayne State Univ. in Detroit (from 1952), and at various other schools.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire