The great Concertmaster Josef Gingold

Born in Brest-Litovsk, Poland in 1909, Gingold was a student of both Vladimir Graffman and Eugène Ysaÿe. He began playing the violin at an early age and, by the time he was fifteen, had joined his first orchestra as Concertmaster. In 1947, conductor George Szell offered him the concertmaster position with the Cleveland Orchestra, where he remained until 1972.

He was also a teacher at Juilliard’s pre-college division from 1964 to 1981. His greatest influence was said to be Szell.

After working with the Cleveland Orchestra for about ten years, he joined the faculty at Indiana University and was named Distinguished Professor.