Tossy Spivakovsky was born in Odessa, which in 1906 was still part of the Russian Empire.
10 Facts About Tossy Spivakovsky
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Together with his elder brother Jacob "Jascha", a renowned concert pianist, Tossy made his first European concert tour at age 13, performing as soloist with orchestras in a number of countries including Holland, England, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, in 1919, where the brothers played for Danish royalty.
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At only 18, after being talent spotted by Wilhelm Furtwangler, Tossy Spivakovsky became the youngest concertmaster hired by the Berlin Philharmonic.
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Tossy Spivakovsky sent a marriage proposal by telegram to a lovely, red-haired girl he had met in Germany, Dr Erika Lipsker, philologist and Renaissance historian, who sailed to Melbourne in 1934 and became his wife of 63 years.
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The youngest of nine, Tossy Spivakovsky belonged to a musical as well as artistic family.
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Tossy Spivakovsky became concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra in 1942, under Artur Rodzinski, in that capacity often performing as soloist.
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Tossy Spivakovsky subsequently gave this work its first performances in New York and San Francisco.
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Tossy Spivakovsky was soloist in the premiere performances of Leon Kirchner's Sonata Concertante and David Diamond's Canticle and Perpetual Motion.
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Tossy Spivakovsky composed cadenzas for all five Mozart violin concerti that were published in 1967 by Wilhelm Zimmermann, Frankfurt am Main.
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Tossy Spivakovsky found time to teach violin and chamber music at the Juilliard School in New York City from 1974 to 1989.