Koussevitzky, Serge (Sergei Aleksandrovich Koussevitzky) (sĕrzh k

səvĭt`skē; Rus. syĭrgā` əlyĭksän`drəvĭch k

syĭvēt`skē), 1874–1951, Russian-American conductor, studied in Moscow. He began his career as a double bass player. In 1908 he made his debut as a conductor in Berlin. In 1910 he and his wife, Natalie, formed an orchestra that Koussevitzky conducted until 1918. In 1917 he was made conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra in Petrograd. Leaving Soviet Russia (1920), he stayed mainly in Paris until coming to the United States in 1924, becoming a citizen in 1941. He was conductor (1924–49) of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Boston Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1881 by Henry Lee Higginson, who was its director and financial backer until 1918. The orchestra performed at the Old Boston Music Hall for nearly 20 years until Symphony Hall was built in 1900; its concerts continue to be held
..... Click the link for more information. , and also directed (from 1936) the Berkshire Symphonic Festivals, today known as the Berkshire Festival Berkshire Festival (bûrk`shər, –shĭr)
..... Click the link for more information. . A champion of new music and the first important maestro to emphasize modern American music, he created (1942) the Koussevitzky Foundation to commission and perform new works by American composers.

Bibliography

See biographies by M. Smith (1947) and A. Lourié (1931, repr. 1969); study by H. Leichtentritt (1946).

Koussevitzky, Serge

orig. Sergey Aleksandrovich Kusevitsky

(born July 26, 1874, Vyshny Volochyok, Russia—died June 4, 1951, Boston, Mass., U.S.) Russian-born U.S. conductor. A virtuoso double-bass player, he was self-taught as a conductor. With his father-in-law's financial help, he debuted with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1908. In the following years he founded his own orchestra, which toured the Volga by riverboat. After leaving the Soviet Union in 1920, he established the Concerts Koussevitzky series in Paris before becoming permanent conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1924–49). He gave about 100 premieres there, including commissioned works such as Igor Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, and many works by U.S. composers, inspiring his musicians to legendary performances by the force of his personality. The Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Mass., was established during his tenure in Boston.

Koussevitzky, Serge (1874–1951) conductor; born in Vishny-Volochok, Russia. A virtuoso on the double bass, he took up conducting and in 1909 founded his own orchestra and publishing company in Moscow. After the Revolution he emigrated to Paris, where his Concerts Koussevitzky presented important new works by Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Ravel, and others. In 1924 he was named conductor of the Boston Symphony; he would conduct it for 25 years, a legendary era for the orchestra. He continued his historic advocacy of contemporary composers (though tending to conservative ones), commissioning major works from Stravinsky, Hindemith, and Prokofiev, as well as championing American composers including Copland, Piston, and Barber. In the 1930s he developed the orchestra's Tanglewood summer concerts and the associated school called the Berkshire Music Center (1940). After his retirement from the orchestra in 1949, he guest-conducted in Europe and the Americas.