Violin Pedagogue Ivan Galamian Was Born in 1903

Ivan Galamian was born on January 23, 1903, in Tabrīz, Persia (now Iran). Born to Armenian parents, the family relocated to Russia in 1904. He underwent training with Konstantin Mostras at the School of the Philharmonic Society in Moscow from 1916 to 1922, after which he moved to Paris. In Paris, he became a protege of Lucien Capet, making his debut in 1924.

Galamian served as a faculty member at the Russian Conservatory in Paris and performed with various European orchestras before settling in the United States in the late 1930s.

In 1944, he joined the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and, two years later, became a member of the strings faculty at the Juilliard School of Music, where he remained until his passing. In 1944, Galamian also founded the Meadowmount School of Music in Westport, New York.

Galamian's effectiveness as an instructor stemmed partly from his rejection of strict regimentation. He played a key role in shaping the individual artistic styles of his students, including Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Michael Rabin, Erick Friedman, Jaime Laredo, Dorothy DeLay, Kyung-wha Chung, Charles Castleman, Eugene Fodor, Miriam Fried, Erick Friedman, Dong-Suk Kang, Ani & Ida Kavafian, and Donald Weilerstein.

In 1962, Galamian's influential work, "Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching," was published.

He passed away on April 14, 1981, in New York, New York, U.S.A.