Marcel Poot (1901-1988), the son of Jan Poot, director of the Royal Flemish Theatre, grew up in an artistic milieu. He took his first music lessons with the organist Gerard Nauwelaerts and subsequently studied solfège, piano and harmony from 1916 to 1919 at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels with Arthur De Greef, José Sevenans and Martin Lunssens. His first prizes in counterpoint (1922) and fugue (1924) were earned at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp with Lodewijk Mortelmans. He also studied composition and orchestration privately with Paul Gilson.

Together, Poot and Gilson published La Revue Musicale Belge, a periodical that appeared starting in 1925. In that same year, he and seven other of Gilson’s students set up the group known as Les Synthétistes, which aimed to create a synthesis of the achievements of current musical evolutions, without sacrificing their individuality. In 1930, he won the Rubens Prize, which allowed him to study for three years with Paul Dukas at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris.

Marcel Poot began his career at the State Secondary School in Vilvoorde and also taught piano, solfège and music history at the music academy in that city. He taught practical harmony (1939) and counterpoint (1940-1949) at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels before becoming director of that school (1949-1966). Besides this, he was a lecturer at the Institut Supérieur des Arts Décoratifs, headmaster of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel (1970-1976), a member of the Royal Flemish Academy for Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts, a jury member for the Queen Elisabeth Competition (1963-1981), chairman of SABAM (composers’ rights organisation), the Union of Belgian Composers and CISAC (the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers), and he was a jury member for various composition competitions.

Kyung-Wha Chung's artistry has made her one of classical music's most acclaimed performers for more than 30 years. Lauded for her passion, her musicality and the intense excitement that she brings to her performances, her uniquely expressive interpretations of the violin literature have established her as an artist of the very highest stature.

Born into a musical family in Korea, Kyung-Wha Chung began studying the violin at the age of 6. At New York's Juilliard School, she studied with the legendary Ivan Galamian and later coached with Joseph Szigeti, who also introduced her to art and literature.

Kyung-Wha Chung has appeared regularly as a soloist with the world's most prestigious orchestras, working with top conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, André Previn, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti and the late Sir Georg Solti. As a recitalist, she has collaborated with an extraordinary list of important artists including Radu Lupu, Krystian Zimerman, Peter Frankl and Itamar Golan and as a member of the Chung Trio, with her brother, conductor/pianist Myung-Whun Chung, and her sister, cellist Myung-Wha Chung.

The government of South Korea has awarded Kyung-Wha Chung its highest honor, the Medal of Civil Merit. In addition, she has been cited by the Sunday Times of London as one of the most important contributors to British cultural life.

Record collectors for three decades have sought out Kyung-Wha Chung's releases, many of which have attained classic status. An exclusive EMI recording artist since 1988, Kyung-Wha Chung has made numerous recordings for Angel/EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, London/Decca and RCA. Her recording of the Strauss and Respighi Sonatas for DG with Krystian Zimerman won a Gramophone Award, as did her EMI Classic recording of Bartók's Second Violin Concerto and Rhapsodies under Sir Simon Rattle. Her 1972 recording of the Mendelssohn Concerto has been reissued in Decca's acclaimed "Legends" series. The most recent additions to her discography include Vivaldi's Four Seasons and a live recording of Brahms Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle, both released on the EMI label.

Dorothy DeLay (1917-2002), or Miss DeLay, as she preferred to be called, began her distinguished career as a teacher at The Juilliard School in 1948.

She has been described as the world’s foremost teacher of the violin by publications as disparate as The New York Times, France’s Le Monde de la Musique, and South Africa’s Die Volksblad. More than just a teacher of the violin, she frequently also was mentor, confidant, career advisor, concert fashion consultant, and even surrogate mother. Among her students are many celebrated performers, including Itzhak Perlman, Cho-Liang Lin, Anne Akiko Meyers, Nadia SalernoSonnenberg, Shlomo Mintz, Nigel Kennedy, Robert McDuffie, Sarah Chang, Mark Kaplan, Rachel Lee, Midori, Gil Shaham, and Kyoko Takezawa. Violinists of the Juilliard, Tokyo, Cleveland, American, Takács, Mendelssohn, Blair, Fine Arts, and Vermeer String Quartets studied with her. She taught concertmasters of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Chicago Symphony, and many other major orchestras the world over. Numerous other former students teach at outstanding conservatories in the United States and abroad, including the Aspen Music Festival and School. First prizes were awarded to her students in every major international competition, including the Tchaikowsky, the Queen Elisabeth Competition, Montreal, Paganini, Thibaud, Menuhin, Wienawski, Naumburg, Indianapolis, Queen Sofia of Spain, Chile International, Leventritt, Sarasate, Hanover, and Nielsen competitions, among many others.

Miss DeLay held master classes in Europe, Korea, Israel, Japan, the People’s Republic of China, and South Africa. At The Juilliard School she occupied the Starling Chair, and held the Dorothy DeLay Faculty Chair at the Aspen Music School. Among her many honors are the Artist Teacher Award of the American String Teachers Association, the King Solomon Award of the America-Israel Foundation, and honorary doctorates from Oberlin College, Columbia University, Michigan State University, Duquesne University, Brown University, and the University of Colorado. She was a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in Great Britain. In 1994 she received the National Medal of Arts, presented by President Clinton at a White House ceremony. In 1995 she received the National Music Council’s annual American Eagle Award, and in 1997 she received Yale University’s highest award for Distinguished Contributions to Music, the Sanford Medal. “For her contributions to Japan’s musical culture,” Emperor Akihito bestowed on her the Order of the Sacred Treasure.

Miss DeLay is the subject of a biography by Barbara Lourie Sand, Teaching Genius: Dorothy DeLay and the Making of a Musician, published in 2000. Miss DeLay also has been the focus of numerous articles, and documentaries throughout her career. At Juilliard in 2002 she moderated the Starling-DeLay Symposium on Violin Studies, How to Teach the Exceptional Young Violinist, with master teachers Itzhak Perlman, Cho-Liang Lin, and Robert McDuffie, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Midori, Stephen Clapp, Cathy Cho, and Brian Lewis attended by 250 young artists and string teachers from around the world.

Born in Medicine Lodge, Kansas, on March 31, 1917, Dorothy DeLay attended Oberlin College, Michigan State University, and what was then called The Juilliard Graduate School before beginning a concert career. That career was interrupted by World War II when her husband, writer Edward Newhouse (a regular contributor to the New Yorker for 30 years) was transferred to a series of Air Force bases. After the war, they settled in Rockland County, New York, where they still lived.

Since 1970 she taught at the Aspen Music Festival, where she nurtured many of the world’s most beloved performers each summer as part of the Aspen Music School.

Né en 1918 à Saïgon, Raymond Gallois Montbrun quitte sa ville de naissance dès sa petite enfance et effectue ses études scolaires à Neuilly-sur-Seine. De 1930 à 1942 il étudie au Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris, auprès de Firmin Touche (violon), Jean Gallon (harmonie), Noël Gallon (fugue et contrepoint) et Henri Busser (composition musicale).

En 1942 il gagne le Premier Second Grand Prix de Rome de composition musicale avec la cantate Pygmalion délivré et en 1944 le Premier Grand Prix de Rome de composition musicale avec la cantate Louise de la Miséricorde, sur un texte de Charles Clerc.

Entre 1944 et 1957 il mène une double carrière de violoniste concertiste et de compositeur. Il fait de nombreuses tournées de concerts en Europe, en U.R.S.S., en Afrique du Nord, au Moyen et Extrême-Orient et enregistre des disques pour Erato-France. À l'Institut Français de Tokyo il donne des cours de violon, d'écriture et de composition musicale de 1952 à 1954. Parallèlement, il donne des conférences au Japon, en Allemagne et au Canada sur l'enseignement musical français.

Directeur de l'Ecole nationale de musique de Versailles entre 1957 et 1962, Raymond Gallois Montbrun crée avec la Municipalité le Festival de Versailles. En 1962, il devient Président de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire (jusqu'en 1967) et Directeur du Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris (jusqu'en 1983). Il est ensuite Directeur artistique du Concours international Long-Thibaud, Président des 5 Académies de l'Institut de France, Président intérimaire du Concours international Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud et Président du Comité Directeur du Concours international Long-Thibaud.

En 1980 Raymond Gallois Montbrun est élu Membre titulaire de l'Académie des Beaux-Arts au fauteuil de Paul Paray. Il est également Officier de la Légion d'Honneur, Grand Officier de l'Ordre du Mérite, Commandeur des Arts et Lettres et Membre de l'Institut.

Italian violinist Franco Gulli (1926-2001) studied with his father (a graduate of Prague Conservatory under Sevcik) and with Arrigo Serato at the Chigi Academy in Sienna. He pursued further studies with Joseph Szigeti in Switzerland, followed by an international career as a soloist with major orchestras and celebrated conductors. Franco Gulli has also performed as a chamber music player, with pianist Enrica Cavallo and as a founding member of the Italian String Trio, with Bruno Giuranna and Giacinto Caramia. Recordings include the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas and string trios, the Mozart violin concertos and Paganini’s Fifth Concerto. Franco Gulli has taught at the Chigi Academy of Sienna, Italy, the Lucerne Conservatory, Switzerland, and the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, where he carried the title of Distinguished Professor of Music.

Henri-Emmanuel Koch (1930-2005) a étudié au Conservatoire royal de Liège. Parmi ses professeurs nous comptons Henri Koch, Jacques Thibaut et G. Enesco. Lauréat du Prix Vieuxtemps en 1955, il a été demi-finaliste du Concours Reine Elisabeth et professeur au Conservatoire royal de Liège.

One of the leading musicians of his age, Alberto Lysy (1935-2009) has played with world-renowned orchestras, from the New York Philharmonic and the US National Symphony Orchestra to the Royal London Philharmonic, the RAI Symphony Orchestra in Rome and the Amsterdam Philharmonic, under the baton of such famous conductors as Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Colin Davis, Pierre Boulez and Mstislav Rostropovitch. He has also given chamber music concerts with the greatest musicians of his time, including Benjamin Britten, Pablo Casals, Nadia Boulanger and Yehudi Menuhin, who was his teacher. Alberto Lysy was the artistic director of the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad and Blonay, where he taught the violin. Often invited as a guest instructor, he gave classes in interpretation at leading music schools. Founder of the Camerata Lysy Gstaad, he has toured with this ensemble in Europe, the United States, Canada, South America, the Far East and South Africa.

Yehudi Menuhin was born in New York of Russian-Jewish parents, but later became a British subject. He made his violin debut at the age of seven with the San Francisco Symphony in Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole, following this with a recital in New York a year later. By the time he was eleven he had made his historic debuts in Paris and Carnegie Hall, at twelve in Berlin and at thirteen in London, thus launching himself at an early age on a career that was to take him all over the world for the ensuing decades, playing with all the leading conductors and orchestras. In addition to his renown as a great musician he is equally recognized for his committed humanism, exemplified by his interest in and work for the young, for international understanding, and all the many causes he finds close to his synoptic mind and generous spirit.

lt was on his first visit to lndia in 1952 at the invitation of Prime Minister Pandit Nehru, that he met Ravi Shankar, developing a deep admiration for both Shankar and Indian music. Subsequently, they gave many concerts together and made numerous recordings which sold into the millions; the proceeds of all the coneerts given on his tours of India were donated to charity. In 1960 he was awarded the Nehru Peace Prize for International Understanding. Some thirty years later, in 1992, he was honoured with the title of Ambassador of Goodwill to UNESCO.

In recognition of the many concerts he gave for the Allied Forces during the second World War, flying over from America whenever he could find space in a military plane, Yehudi Menuhin was awarded numerous honours, amongst which were the Legion d'Honneur and the Croix de Lorraine from France, the Order of Merit from Germany, the Ordre Leopold and the Ordre de la Couronne from Belgium, from England the Royal Philharmonic Society's Gold Medal and in 1995 from Spain the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Merito Civil. Queen Elizabeth II bestowed a knighthood on him in 1965 and gave him the Order of Merit in 1987, followed by a life peerage in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 1993.

He is an Honorary Doctor of over 30 universities in different countries, including those of Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrew's and the Sorbonne as weil as being a Freeman of the cities of Edinburgh, Bath, Reims and Warsaw and holding the Gold Medals of the cities of Paris, New York and Jerusalem. He was also the first Westerner to be made an Honorary Professor of the Beijing Conservatoire in recognition of his concerts in China and of his endeavours in helping many young Chinese violinists to continue their studies in the West.

In 1963 he achieved one of his greatest ambitions, creating a boarding school for promising young musicians, starting from the age of seven and based on the Central School of Moscow, where the students receive both their scholastic and musical education under one roof. Numerous students of the Yehudi Menuhin School, which is officially associated with its Moscow equivalent, have gone on to earn university scholarships.
In 1977 he founded the International Menuhin Music Academy for young graduate string players in Gstaad, Switzerland, the site of the Menuhin Music Festival, of which he was artistic director for 40 years and for which he was awarded Swiss citizenship.

Yehudi Menuhin made his first record at the age of twelve and a year later began his long association with HMV/EMI, with whom he continued to record for many years. He has also recorded for Deutsche Grammophon (the complete Beethoven sonatas with Wilhelm Kempff) and conducted numerous orchestral works for Philips, Virgin, Nimbus and other labels. A great number of his early recordings have been reissued on CD on the occasion of his 75th and 80th birthdays by Biddulph Recordings, and IMG Records issued a boxed set of the complete Beethoven symphonies, performed by the Sinfonia Varsovia under the baton of Lord Menuhin.

After a thorough musical education in Paris and London under Jacques Thibaud, Carl Flesch and Max Rostal, Yfrah Neaman (1923-2003) made his sensational debut in London in 1944 and rapidly conquered the great concert houses of the world. He was an eloquent and tireless champion of twentieth-century composers, whose works - many written especially for him - he has introduced to audiences around the world. He was Professor of Violin and Department Head of the Guildhall School of Music in London and had been offered guest professorships at conservatories and colleges of music all over the world.

As an internationally acclaimed teacher, Yfrah Neaman gave regular master classes troughout Europe, the United States and the Far East. He was also a regular member of the jury of all the major international violin competitions and the joint Artistic Director of the London International Quartet Competition.

He was made a Freeman of the City of London in 1980, and in 1983 was honoured with the Order of the British Empire. In 1997, the Worshipful Company of Musicians offered him the prestigious Cobbett Medal. In 1998, he was awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the National Academy of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria, and received the title of Professor Emeritus for service to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Ricardo Odnoposoff was born to Russian immigrants in Buenos Aires. The young man's exceptional musical talent induced his parents to strive for a musical education for him in Europe. An attempt to study with Leopold Auer, was unsuccessful, as the legendary teacher of several generations of violinists who for decades dominated the international musical scene (among them Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, and Misha Elman), hesitated because of his advanced age to take on such a young pupil. Therefore, upon the recommendation of Erich Kleiber, Ricardo Odnoposoff studied with the concertmaster Rudolf Deman in Berlin, and after only a few months changed to the studio of Carl Flesch.

Ricardo Odnoposoff received his diploma in 1932 after four years of study, but there was another event in that year which had more decisive consequences for the young violinist. In June, the eighteen year old was awarded a prize at the First International Competition for Voice and Violin in Vienna, and the interest of those in influential musical circles was awakened, among them Vienna State Opera director Clemens Krauss. The concertmasters of the opera and of the Philharmonic at the time, Arnold Rosé, Julius Stwertka and Franz Mairecker, were on average over 60 years old. As far back as 1923, Richard Strauss had noted the difficulties of the long-time concertmaster Karl Prill, which led to the violin solo in Strauss' Bürger als Edelmann being performed by Heinrich Schwarz. Prill retired in 1925, but the situation did not greatly improve. Clemens Krauss, who in many difficult situations in the history of the Philharmonic took decisive action, seized the opportunity and in 1933, without an audition, offered the 19 year old Odnoposoff a position as concertmaster.

Ricardo Odnoposoff's first performance at the concertmaster's desk was in Verdi's Othello on December 25, 1933, and his first major Philharmonic test was a gala concert for Richard Strauss' 70th birthday on June 10, 1934. Wilhelm Furtwängler conducted Ein Heldenleben and insisted that Odnoposoff perform the violin solo. Until 1937, he appeared seven times as a soloist with the Vienna Philharmonic, among them two performances of Mozart's Violin Concerto in A major, KV 219. For the 100th birthday of Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), he made his debut in the subscription concert series with that composer's Violin Concerto in B minor, op. 61, on January 25 and 26, 1936, under Felix von Weingartner.

In Ricardo Odnoposoff's own words, it was necessary for a young Philharmonic concertmaster to present oneself even more prominently as a soloist, and he therefore performed a recital which included the violin concerti of Johannes Brahms and Antonín Dvorák, as well as the Mozart Concerto in D major, KV 218, under the direction of Josef Krips and accompanied by the Philharmonic. In addition, he made numerous other solo appearances in Vienna and on tour, among these a sonata recital with Bruno Walter as pianist on December 2, 1935. This artistic collaboration extended to the Philharmonic concerts also, as Odnoposoff performed a major orchestral solo, the aria from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Il re pastore with Elisabeth Schumann during a Philharmonic tour to London under Walter's direction in June 1937. On this same tour, Odnoposoff represented the orchestra in a special way, performing violin compositions by Fritz Kreisler at a gala at the Austrian embassy.

Probably the most decisive event in Ricardo Odnoposoff's career occurred in 1937. The Ysaÿe Competition was characterized that year by the legendary artistic duel between Ricardo Odnoposoff, Second Prize, and David Oistrakh, First Prize. This sensational success drew considerable attention internationally, and led to a reordering of Odnoposoff's career. His numerous offers to perform as a soloist led him to relinquish his position as concertmaster and he left Austria in the autumn of 1938, with the political developments of the time also playing a role in this decision. Upon returning to Vienna from solo engagements in Italy, he was suddenly refused admission to the opera house. After Austria's annexation by Nazi Germany, Odnoposoff, who had taken on Austrian citizenship and became an enthusiastic Viennese, was, because of the Argentine citizenship which he still maintained, no longer welcome in his own land.

He travelled to Belgium, and subsequently returned to Argentina in 1940. In 1942 he debuted in New York, where he lived until 1956. In that year he returned to Vienna and became Professor at the Music Academy in 1957. He taught at that institution until 1973 and counted three future Vienna Philharmonic members, Paul Guggenberger (1941-2000), Ortwin Ottmaier and Edward Kudlak (retired September 2003), among his students. Odnoposoff's activities as a pedagogue were not limited to Vienna, as he taught in Stuttgart, and until 1994 in Zurich. Despite this extensive teaching work, the focal point of his career remained the concert stage, as thousands of public appearances and a notable number of recordings confirm. Many of those recordings have fortunately been re-released on CD.

After the Second World War, Ricardo Odnoposoff appeared six times with his former Viennese colleagues. On February 1 and 2, 1947 he performed the Brahms concerto with Josef Krips in the subscription concert series, and in 1961 played the Sinfonia concertante, KV 364, with principal violist Rudolf Streng, conducted by Carl Schuricht, for the Mozart gala concert in Innsbruck, as well as for two concerts during Salzburg's Mozart Week. The last appearance of Ricardo Odnoposoff with the Vienna Philharmonic was on June 13, 1965, in the main auditorium of the Konzerthaus, when he played the premiere of the Violin Concerto of Theodor Berger, with Eugene Ormandy conducting.

There was one last personal meeting at the Musikverein on February 25, 1994. Upon his 80th birthday, Ricardo Odnoposoff was awarded the honorary ring of the Vienna Philharmonic after a rehearsal on the podium of the Golden Hall. The ring, surely the orchestra's most personal decoration, was awarded in honor of an artist who, though only belonging to the Philharmonic for four years, remained his entire life a proponent of our orchestra. Until the end of his life he maintained close contact with the Vienna Philharmonic, not only through his former student Ortwin Ottmaier, but also by his personal interest and identification with the orchestra.

Ruggiero Ricci made his debut in San Francisco at the age of 10. During World War II he enlisted and became "Entertainment Specialist Ricci", playing ad broadcasting hundreds of concerts under a variety of unusual conditions, often without an accompanist, exploring and presenting the solo violin repertoire, of which he has remained an enthusiastic exponent ever since. He has greatly contributed to the world's renewed appreciation of the great 19th century composers. He has premiered works by contemporary composers including Ginastera, von Einem and Goehr. His discography lists more than 500 recordings. His fourth recording of the Paganini capricci was made for the first time on Paganini's own Guarneri, exceptionally lent to him by the City of Genoa. Ruggiero Ricci has performed over 6000 concerts in 65 countries. His first teacher, from the age of six, was Louis Persinger. He later studied with Michel Piastro, Paul Stassevitch and Georg Kulenkampf. His teaching posts include Indiana and Michigan University, The Juilliard School and the Mozarteum Salzburg. His book, Left hand violin technique, is published by G. Shirmer.

Violinist, conductor and teacher, Michel Schwalbé was a laureate of the International Competition in Scheveningen, the Netherlands (1948) and of the Sarasate Prize. Knight of the Legion of Honor (1990), he has been awarded with the Leopold the Second Distinguished Service Order and the First Class Federal Cross.

Michel Schwalbé was born in Poland and lived in Berlin. In 1931 he graduated from the Warsaw Music Academy, where he studied with Moritz Frenkel, a pupil of Leopold von Auer. Before the Second World War, he graduated from the Paris Conservatory, where he studied with Jules Bucherit (violin), George Enescu (interpretation) and Pierre Monteux (chamber ensemble and conducting). During the War he studied at the Lyon Conservatory with Prof. Bouffard (composition). He has taught the former Henry Marteau’s and Jozsef Szigeti’s virtuoso performance class as a professor of the Geneva Conservatory. Between 1960 and 1963 he was a professor of the Mozarteum’s International Summer Academy in Salzburg and from 1963 until 1986 a professor at the Universität der Kunste in Berlin.

Soloist, choirmaster and chief concertmaster of the France Symphony Orchestra in Lyon (1942-1944), Michel Schwalbé was also chief concertmaster of the Roman Switzerland Symphony Orchestra in Geneva (since 1944), then of the Berliner Philharmoniker (since 1957), directed by Ernest Ansermet and Herbert von Karajan, respectively. He was invited yearly as chief guest concertmaster of the Switzerland Festival Orchestra in Lucerne. His mastery has been highly noted by Karl Bohm, Wilhelm Furtwangler, Herbert von Karajan, Eugene Ormandy, Leopold Stokowski, Bruno Walter and other world famous conductors.

Michel Schwalbé was the founder of the Zurich String Quartet and the Geneva Trio. As a guest conductor he worked in Japan, Poland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (until 1990). As a solo violinist he performed with major European orchestras, as well as participated in numerous concert tours and LP recording sessions. The King Maximilian violin by Antonio Stradivari was granted to Michel Schwalbé for liferent.

Berl Senofsky was accepted by the Juilliard School in 1931, at the age of six. There he studied with Louis Persinger and later with Ivan Galamian. Invited to the celebrated Malboro Festival and then to be second concert master of the Cleveland Orchestra, it was in 1955 that he won the Grand Prize of the Queen Elisabeth Competition.

From 1965 until his retirement, Berl Senofsky was on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore as principal professor of violin. He was principal of string classes from 1965 to 1977. That same year, he founded the American Artists International Foundation, an institution that has been able to aid Peter Zazofsky and Irina Tseitlin, among others.

To his international career as soloist, Berl Senofsky adds an extensive discography on Philips, Epic, RCA and Deutsche Grammophon.

Henryk Szeryng (1918-1988) was born in the Warsaw suburb of Zelazowa Wola, the birthplace of Chopin, into a wealthy family, his father being a highly successful industrialist. At the age of three, his musical studies began with piano lessons from his mother. He was seven when he picked up the violin and made it his instrument.

His first teacher was Maurice Frenkel, who was an assistant to Leopold Auer in St.Petersburg prior to World War I. Although Frenkel was perhaps the most influential teacher of young Henryk, the wonderfully disciplined training in matters both musical and technical came from the renowned pedagogue Carl Flesch (1873 - 1944), whose expertise virtually created and nurtured Szeryng's immense talent between the years 1930 and 1933.

Flesch was the major musical force that influenced Henryk Szeryng's life through his remarkable teaching approach. It should be mentioned that it was the famous Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman who, after hearing the 10 year-old Szeryng play the Mendelssohn concerto, convinced his parents that they should approach Flesch.

Later through the elegant and profound Jacques Thibaud and the coaching and guidance of Gabriel Bouillon, Henryk Szeryng became firmly associated with the French school of violin playing. His studies with them led to his graduation from the Paris Conservatoire with the coveted First Prize in 1937. It was back in 1933 that he made his debut as a concert artist playing the Brahms concerto which, as it turned out, was so highly successful that an extensive concert tour followed immediately in spite of his ongoing studies.

The legendary Nadia Boulanger, his guide in counterpoint and composition, introduced him to such personalities as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Alfred Cortot, Manuel Ponce, Igor Stravinsky and Maurice Ravel.

At the outbreak of World War II Szeryng was appointed liaison officer and interpreter (he spoke and wrote in eight languages) by General Sikorski for the Polish government in Exile. He served in that capacity until 1945, having given well over 300 concerts for allied troops in Europe, Africa and the Americas. In 1942 he joined the exiled Polish Premier in Mexico. The Premier was in search of a home in Latin America for about 4.000 Polish refugees displaced by the war. It was Mexico that finally accepted these desperate and homeless people. Henryk Szeryng was so moved by this humanitarian gesture that he returned to Mexico in 1943. He was offered the post of director of the string department at the National University of Mexico so that he could reorganize the Mexican violin school. In recognition of his musical and cultural merits, he was granted Mexican citizenship in 1948.

Besides this important task, Szeryng regularly gave concerts all over Latin America until the day in 1950 when he met in Mexico his fellow Pole, Arthur Rubinstein, who encouraged him to extend his musical activities over all five continents. The two men enjoyed the deepest friendship which was built upon mutual admiration and respect for each other as human beings and musicians. Rubinstein, who died in 1982, thought of his friend as an artist of the highest order and remarked: "Real music lovers want emotion - great moments - which Szeryng's playing gives them."

Apart from sterling musicianship, Henryk Szeryng was a tonalist and a colorist, whose broad musical lines and innate interpretative qualities always reached for the highest peak in the art of violin playing, while his technical command was awesome. This gift was lavished upon an absolutely huge repertoire that delighted his audience around the world.

Henryk Szeryng was one of the most recorded violinists, with a recording career that spanned more than forty years. It was he who rediscovered and was the first to record Paganini's third violin concerto. Chávez' "Mexican" concerto, the "Cuban" concerto by Csonka, violin concertos by Manuel Ponce, Benjamin Lees, Camargo Guarnieri, and Jean Martinon, the "Poema Concertante" by Xavier Montsalvatge and compositions by Julian Carrillo, Román Haubenstock-Ramati, Peter Racine Fricker and José Sabre Marroquín are among the works written for him. They were part of his vast program repertoire ranging from the Bach Sonatas and Partitas for violin solo to the great classical concertos.

Apart from the various posts he had held over the years, Henryk Szeryng had been appointed Mexican Roving Ambassador for Culture in 1956 and Special Music Advisor to the Mexican Permanent Delegation to UNESCO in 1970 being the first artist ever to travel on a diplomatic passport.

Many honors have been bestowed upon Henryk Szeryng, such as the Grand Prix du Disque six times, the Grammy Award, the Edison, the Golden Record, the Wiener Flötenuhr and the Golden Medal of the Cities of Paris and Jerusalem. In addition, among others he received the Order of Polonia Restituta , the "Commendattore alla Reppublica" of Italy, he was made an Officer of the Crown of Belgium and a Commander of the order of "Alfonso X El Sabio" of Spain. He received the Cross of an Officer of the French Legion of Honor, the Gran Premio Nacional of Mexico and the Commander's Cross of the Order of St.Charles of Monaco. The awards recognize the esteem in which the world held this exceptional man.

The violins that have passed through the hands of Henryk Szeryng are a story in themselves. There was the "Hercules" Stradivarius of 1734 which at one time belonged to Eugene Ysaÿe. Szeryng put this famous instrument into the hands of Teddy Kollek, Mayor of Jerusalem on December 24, 1972 as a special token of friendship towards the Golden City to be used by the concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

He presented the Prince Sovereign Rainier III of Monaco with his famous Vuillaume, the Messiah Stradivarius copy and he gave to the City of Mexico the "Sanctae Theresiae" instrument by Andrea Guarneri of 1683. Szeryng gave away the majority of his violin collection to cities or to students, such as Shlomo Mintz, who had studied with him in Geneva, retaining only his great Guarnerius del Gesù 1743 "Leduc" and the Pierre Hel 1935, a copy of the Guarnerius del Gesù "Le Roi Joseph".

Henryk Szeryng, a great musician, diplomat, pedagogue and philanthropist, died suddenly in the middle of a tour in Germany after a concert in the city of Kassel. The program of his last performance was the same as for his very first concert 55 years before: the Violin Concerto by Brahms.

Eugenia Uminska (1910-1980) studied violin wit J. Jarzębski at the conservatory in Warsaw, with O. Ševcik in Prague and with G. Enescu in Paris. She gave concerts in many European countries. She was the first performer of many works written by Polish composers and an outstanding interpreter of the works of K. Szymanowski, with whom she performed and recorded. During the Nazi occupation she performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the music café of B. Woytowicz and other places accessible to Polish citizens. Then, as a consequence of her patriotic attitude, she had to hide from the Gestapo. She was awarded by PWM Edition for her initiative in performing Polish music (1948). In 1949 she was honoured with the Order of the Banner of Labour. At PWM she prepared for print many works of Polish composers, such as K. Szymanowski, H. Wieniawski, Z. Noskowski, A. Andrzejewski, A. Zarzycki, A. Malawski. Among her students were: K. Danczowska, J. Kaliszewska, T. Głąbówna, W. Kwaśny. Eugenia Uminska was the Rector of the Kraków Academy of Music in the difficult times after the death of B. Rutkowski, helped by Prorector J. Hoffman (1964-66). In 1965, in cooperation with Kraków Philhamonics, the school initiated the festival Days of Organ Music.