Pyotr Stolyarsky facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pyotr Stolyarsky
Background information
Birth name	Piotr Solomonovich Stolyarsky
Born	30 November 1871 Lypovets, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	29 April 1944 (age 72) Sverdlovsk, USSR
Genres	Classical
Occupation(s)	Pedagogue, Violinist
Years active	1893–1944

Pyotr Solomonovich Stolyarsky (born November 30, 1871 – died April 29, 1944) was a famous violinist and a very important teacher from the Soviet Union. He was known as a "People's Artist of Ukraine," which is a special award given to talented artists.

Life and Early Training

Pyotr Stolyarsky was born in 1871 in a town called Lypovets, which was part of the Russian Empire then. Today, this area is in Ukraine. He started learning the violin from his father. Later, he studied with other great teachers like Stanisław Barcewicz in Warsaw and Emil Młynarski in Odessa.

In 1893, he finished his studies at the Odessa music school. After that, he played in the orchestra at the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater for many years.

Becoming a Great Teacher

Stolyarsky started teaching children how to play the violin in 1898. He even taught kids as young as four years old! In 1912, he opened his own music school.

From 1919, he taught at the Odessa Conservatory, which is a big music college. He became a professor there in 1923. He created a special way of teaching the violin, which became known as the Odessa School of Violin Playing. He also helped start the Soviet violin school.

Stolyarsky was connected to many famous violin teachers. Through his teacher Emil Młynarski, he was like a "grandson" in teaching style to Leopold Auer and a "great-grandson" to Joseph Joachim. Through his teacher Stanisław Barcewicz, he was like a "grandson" to the legendary Niccolo Paganini.

Amazing Students and Their Success

Pyotr Stolyarsky was known for finding and teaching incredibly talented young violinists. His students won many top awards in important music competitions around the world.

Winning Competitions

In 1935, two of his students, David Oistrakh and Boris Goldstein, won prizes at the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Warsaw. David Oistrakh came in second place, which was a huge achievement!

Two years later, in 1937, Stolyarsky's students made a big splash at the International Ysaye Competition. This was one of the most important music contests at the time. His students, including David Oistrakh, Boris Goldstein, Elizabeth Gilels, and Mikhail Fikhtengoltz, won almost all the top prizes. This showed the world how good the Soviet violin school was.

Stolyarsky's Teaching Style

Stolyarsky had a special gift for teaching. He could tell right away if a child had a natural talent for the violin.

Eduard Grach, one of his last students, said:

Stolyarsky's talent for teaching was certainly second to none. He immediately knew a talent when he saw one. Really, taking a kid's hand, he could tell then and there whether he or she would make a good player or not. Seeing the little David Oistrakh, the son of one of the theater's singers, he told her the boy would someday become a wonder player. And like it always happened, his prediction came perfectly true…

Stolyarsky's name is also linked to the School of Stolyarsky. This was a special music school in Odessa for gifted children. It opened in 1933 because he wanted it to.

Famous Students

Some of his most famous students include:

• David Oistrakh
• Nathan Milstein
• Boris Goldstein
• Elizabeth Gilels (who was married to violinist Leonid Kogan and was the sister of pianist Emil Gilels)
• Igor Oistrakh (David Oistrakh's son)
• Mikhail Fikhtengoltz
• Eduard Grach

Awards and Recognition

Pyotr Stolyarsky received several important awards for his work:

• Order of the Red Banner of Labour
• People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR

He passed away in 1944 in Sverdlovsk, which was then part of the USSR. He was 72 years old.