Music
Mischa Mischakoff
1895–1981 · violinist, concertmaster, teacher
Ukrainian-born violinist who led the string sections of America's top orchestras and was concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony under Paul Paray from 1952 to 1968.
- Born
Proskuriv, Russian Empire (now Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine)- Died
Petoskey, Michigan
aged 85- Birth name
- Mykhailo Isaakovych Fishberg
- Detroit years
- 1952–1981
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Mischakoff escaped Soviet Russia in 1921 together with the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and became one of the most sought-after concertmasters in the United States, leading in turn the New York Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra under Stokowski, the Chicago Symphony and, for fifteen years, Arturo Toscanini's NBC Symphony. In 1952 he moved to Detroit to become concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony under Paul Paray, and he stayed until 1968, through the orchestra's Mercury recording years and its move to Ford Auditorium. His daughter Anne played in the orchestra beside him and later wrote his biography. From 1952 until about 1980 he taught violin at Wayne State University, and young Detroit violinists such as the Kavafian sisters studied with him. He owned four Stradivari violins and led his own Mischakoff String Quartet wherever he lived. He died in Petoskey, in northern Michigan, in 1981.
Highlights
- Concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, 1952–1968
- Earlier concertmaster of Toscanini's NBC Symphony, 1937–1952
- Taught at Wayne State University from 1952 to about 1980
- Owned four Stradivari violins
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1956–1968
Ford Auditorium
Demolished · 1956–2011
The DSO's riverfront hall, where Mischakoff led the violins under Paray, Ehrling and guest conductors; demolished in 2011.
Worked here · 1952–about 1980
Wayne State University
Mischakoff taught violin at Wayne State for almost three decades.