Serge Koussevitzky

Sergei Aleksandrovich Koussevitzky (July 26, 1874 – June 4, 1951), better known as Serge, was a Russian-born conductor, best known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.

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Koussevitzky studied music in Moscow. He was initially a virtuoso double bass player (he wrote a concerto for the instrument in 1902), with his conducting debut coming in 1908 in Berlin. The following year he founded his own orchestra. He left the Soviet Union in 1920 and stayed in Paris before moving to the United States in 1924 (he became a U.S. citizen in 1941).

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He was appointed conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1924. Over the next twenty-five years, he continued building the ensemble's reputation as a leading American orchestra, and developing its summer concert and educational programs at Tanglewood. With the Boston Symphony he made numerous recordings, many available today on compact disc; most of his recordings have been well-regarded by critics. His students and proteges included Leonard Bernstein.

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Koussevitzky was a great champion of modern music, commissioning a number of works from prominent composers, including Igor Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms (commissioned to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony). In 1942 he founded the Koussevitzky Foundation to commission and perform new works — among the results were Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes, B?la Bart?k's Concerto for Orchestra, Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3, and Olivier Messiaen's Turangal?la-Symphonie.

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Koussevitzky's widow gave his Amati double bass to Gary Karr, a well-known contemporary double bass soloist.

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July 26: July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining....

1874: 1874 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar)....

June 4: June 4 is the 155th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (156th in leap years), with 210 days remaining....

Serge Koussevitzky related Images and Photos (experimental)

Caprica Serge Model	Portrait of Serge Lifar	Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin July 23 1970	Self Portrait from "Serge Eisenstein Reflexions D'Un Cineaste " Published in Moscow 1958
2011 NBA All Star: Tyreke Evans Serge Ibaka Wesley Matthews James Harden Brandon Jennings DeJu	Oklahoma City Thunder v Chicago Bulls: Carlos Boozer and Serge Ibaka	T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam Los Angeles CA - February 18: Wesley Johnson and Serge Ib