Musili, Ovide

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Musili, Ovide

Musili, Ovide, Belgian violinist, teacher, and composer; b. Nandrin, near Liège, Sept. 22, 1854; d. N.Y., Nov. 24, 1929. He studied with Heynberg and Leonard at the Liège Cons., taking 1st violin prize at the age of 13; he won the gold medal at 15. He toured Europe from 1874 to 1882 with remarkable success. In 1883 he went to America, and between 1892 and 1897 he made 2 world tours. From 1897 to 1908 he taught at the Liège Cons., and in 1908 he established himself in N.Y., where he opened his own school of music. He publ. a number of brilliant violin pieces as well as the instructive works System of Daily Practice (1899) and The Belgian School of the Violin (4 vols.; 1916; a combination of his own methods with those of his teacher Leonard). He also publ. a book, My Memories ( 1920). His wife, Annie Louise Tanner-Musin (b. Boston, Oct. 3, 1856; d. there, Feb. 28, 1921), was a well-known coloratura soprano.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire