Zimbalist, Efrem (Alexandrovich)

Zimbalist, Efrem (Alexandrovich), eminent Russian-born American violinist and pedagogue; b. Rostov-na-Donu, April 21, 1889; d. Reno, Nev., Feb. 22, 1985. He studied violin with his father, an orch. musician, and from 1901 to 1907 was a pupil of Leopold Auer at the St. Petersburg Cons., graduating with the gold medal. He made a highly successful European appearance as a soloist in the Brahms Concerto in Berlin, Nov. 7, 1907. In 1911 he emigrated to the U.S.; made his American debut with the Boston Sym. Orch. on Oct. 27, 1911, playing the first American performance of Glazunov’s Violin Concerto. In 1914 he married Alma Gluck, who died in 1938; his 2^nd wife, whom he married in 1943, was Mary Louise Curtis Bok, founder of the Curtis Inst. Of Music in Philadelphia; in 1928 he joined its faculty; was its director from 1941 to 1968. After Mrs. Zimbalist’s death in 1970, he moved to Reno, Nev., to live with his daughter. His son, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., was a well-known actor. Zimbalist was also a composer: he wrote the opera Laudara (Philadelphia, April 6, 1956), a musical comedy, Honeydew (N.Y., 1920), Slavonic Dances for Violin and Orch. (1911), American Rhapsody for Orch. (Chicago, March 3, 1936; rev. version, Philadelphia, Feb. 5, 1943), Portrait of an Artist, symphonic poem (Philadelphia, Dec. 7, 1945), Violin Concerto (1947), Cello Concerto (1969), String Quartet, Violin Sonata, Concert Phantasy on Le Coq d’or for Violin and Piano, Sarasateana for Violin and Piano, songs, etc. He publ. One Hour’s Daily Exercise for the violin.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire