STOLYARSKI, PETER SOLOMONOVICH

STOLYARSKI, PETER SOLOMONOVICH (1871–1944), violin pedagogue. Born in Lipovtsy, Ukraine, Stolyarski came from a family of klezmorim (see music ). As a child he played with a band at Jewish wedding ceremonies and attracted the attention of the Polish violinist Barcewicz, upon whose advice he went to study at the music school in Odessa. After his graduation in 1900 he devoted himself to teaching talented children, often as young as four years old; he developed special teaching methods which gained recognition. In 1920 he became professor at the Odessa Conservatory. In 1933 he founded a music school for youths, which consisted of a ten-year course combining music studies with general instruction. His system was widely adopted in the USSR, and similar institutions, mainly at high school level, now exist in many countries. His most celebrated pupils, david oistrakh and nathan milstein , exemplified and continued Stolyarski's tradition of purity and flawless technique in violin playing. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Goldstein, Shkola imeni Stolyarskogo (1947). (Michael Goldstein)