Roman Totenberg (1 January 1911 – 8 May 2012) was a Polish-American violinist and educator.

Born in Łódź in a Jewish family, the son of Slanislava (Vinaver) and Adam Totenberg, Totenberg was a child prodigy, studied with Michalowicz in Warsaw, and made his debut at the age of eleven as soloist with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also awarded the gold medal at the Chopin Conservatory/Warsaw and continued his studies with Carl Flesch in Berlin, where he won the International Mendelssohn Prize in 1931, and later with George Enescu and Pierre Monteux in Paris. In 1935 he made his British debut in London and his American debut in Washington, D. C. Three years later, he formally immigrated to the U.S. under the distinguished artist visa program.

Professional life

Totenberg toured South America with Arthur Rubinstein, and gave joint recitals with Karol Szymanowski. He gave many concerts comprising the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas and all Brandenburg concertos. His diversified repertoire included more than thirty concerti. Among the many contemporary works he introduced are the Darius Milhaud Violin Concerto No. 2, the William Schuman Concerto, and the Krzysztof Penderecki Capriccio. He also premiered Paul Hindemith's Sonata in E (1935), the Samuel Barber Concerto (new version) and the Bohuslav Martinů Sonata, as well as giving the American premiere of Arthur Honegger's Sonate for violin solo. Under the patronage of the eminent violinist Yehudi Menuhin, Roman Totenberg along with pianist Adolph Baller and cellist Gabor Rejto formed the Alma Trio in 1942–43 at Menuhin's Alma estate in California.

Totenberg appeared with numerous American orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Washington Symphonies. In Europe he performed with all major orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic and the Concertgebouw. He performed with such a great conductors as Stokowski, Kubelik, Szell, Rodzinski, Fitelberg, Jochum, Rowicki, Krenz, Monteux, Wit, Steinberg and Golschmann. In recital he appeared at the White House, Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in every major American and European city. He was featured with the most important music festivals of the world, notably at Salzburg's Mozarteum, the Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara where he became chairman of the string department in 1947.

Pedagogy

In addition to his concert activities, Totenberg held the position of Professor of Music at Boston University, where he headed the String Department from 1961 to 1978. He also taught at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, the Music Academy of the West, the Aspen School of Music, the Mannes College of Music, and at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was the Director from 1978 to 1985. Notables whom he taught include: Yevgeny Kutik, Mira Wang, Daniel Han, Rachel Vetter Huang, Na Sun, and Ikuko Mizuno, and Mari Kimura.

Recognition

In 1983, he was named Artist Teacher of the Year by the American String Teachers Association and in April 2007, he was honored with the New England String Ensemble's Muses & Mentors Award for his great artistry and significant contributions to string education.

In 1988, he was awarded the highest Medal of Merit by the Polish Government for his lifelong contributions to Polish society.

Family

Roman Totenberg was the father of National Public Radio journalist Nina Totenberg, judge Amy Totenberg, and business woman Jill Totenberg. His wife, Melanie (Shroder) Totenberg (1917–1996), acted as business manager for her husband for 50 years.

Recording career

Totenberg recorded under various labels including Deutsche Grammophon, Telefunken, Philips, Da Camera, Musical Heritage, Vanguard, Titanic and VQR. Recordings also appeared on Heliodor, Dover, Musical Heritage, and Remington label.