Oscar Ravina
Encyclopedia
Oscar Ravina (born in Warsaw
, Poland
) was a violin
ist, violin teacher and concertmaster
based in New York
, who has had a prolific career as a performer as well as being a current professor emeritus at Montclair State University
, where a talent grant in his name is regularly given to outstanding full-time freshmen studying string instruments.
in Leningrad
; the Anton Bruckner Private University for Music, Drama, and Dance
in Linz
, Austria
; the Mozarteum in Salzburg
; and the Vienna State Academy in Vienna
. It was Isaac Stern
who urged him to move to the United States, where he continued his studies with Nicoline Zedeler Mix, Professor L. Persinger, and at the Manhattan School of Music
.
of New York, a chamber orchestra consisting of leading New York Philharmonic musicians, which he helped to organize, Mr. Ravina was a long time a member of the New York Philharmonic
and an active member of the New York Philharmonic Ensembles.
As founder of the Ravina String Quartet, he concertized and recorded in both the United States and Canada and developed special programs for young audiences. Since 1976, he was concertmaster of the Masterwork Orchestra, Masterwork Chamber Orchestra, and St. Cecilia Orchestra.
He also taught chamber music at Dartmouth College
and the Waterloo Music Festival, and has performed under almost every major conductor
of the last three decades. His solo performances include concerts with the National Orchestral Association of New York, Brooklyn Philharmonia, Westchester Philharmonic
, Symphony of the Air, New Philharmonia of New York, and Philharmonia Virtuosi
.
For more than eleven seasons, Mr. Ravina was music director and conductor of the Montclair Chamber Ensemble.
, Vox
, Serenus, Nonesuch
, CBS
, Spectrum
, Crystal Records
, New World Records
, Sony
, and Centaur Records
.
Montclair Chamber Players, Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra
, New Sussex Symphony, Mannes Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony
, St. Cecila Chorus and Orchestra, N.J. Pops, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra
, Munich Symphony Orchestra
, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
, Montclair Chamber Ensemble, Chelsea Opera
, Orchestra-of-the-Bronx, Garden State Philharmonic, Staten Island Symphony, Harlem Festival Orchestra, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra, Key West Symphony and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic
.
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) was a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist, violin teacher and concertmaster
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
based in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, who has had a prolific career as a performer as well as being a current professor emeritus at Montclair State University
Montclair State University
Montclair State University is a public research university located in the Upper Montclair section of Montclair, the Great Notch area of Little Falls, and Clifton, New Jersey. As of October 2009, there were 18,171 total enrolled students: 14,139 undergraduate students and 4,032 graduate students...
, where a talent grant in his name is regularly given to outstanding full-time freshmen studying string instruments.
Early career
Mr. Ravina began his musical career in Poland, and continued his studies at the Saint Petersburg ConservatorySaint Petersburg Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.-History:...
in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
; the Anton Bruckner Private University for Music, Drama, and Dance
Anton Bruckner Private University for Music, Drama, and Dance
Anton Bruckner Private University for Music, Drama, and Dance is one of four universities in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. It has ca...
in Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
; the Mozarteum in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
; and the Vienna State Academy in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. It was Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...
who urged him to move to the United States, where he continued his studies with Nicoline Zedeler Mix, Professor L. Persinger, and at the Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
.
Career
A former concertmaster of the Philharmonia VirtuosiPhilharmonia Virtuosi
The Philharmonia Virtuosi is a chamber orchestra that first performed in 1974. It was founded by Richard Kapp, who conducted the orchestra until the time of his death in 2006....
of New York, a chamber orchestra consisting of leading New York Philharmonic musicians, which he helped to organize, Mr. Ravina was a long time a member of the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
and an active member of the New York Philharmonic Ensembles.
As founder of the Ravina String Quartet, he concertized and recorded in both the United States and Canada and developed special programs for young audiences. Since 1976, he was concertmaster of the Masterwork Orchestra, Masterwork Chamber Orchestra, and St. Cecilia Orchestra.
He also taught chamber music at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
and the Waterloo Music Festival, and has performed under almost every major conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
of the last three decades. His solo performances include concerts with the National Orchestral Association of New York, Brooklyn Philharmonia, Westchester Philharmonic
Westchester Philharmonic
The Westchester Philharmonic is a professional symphony orchestra based in Westchester County, NY. The orchestra performs in the concert hall of the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College....
, Symphony of the Air, New Philharmonia of New York, and Philharmonia Virtuosi
Philharmonia Virtuosi
The Philharmonia Virtuosi is a chamber orchestra that first performed in 1974. It was founded by Richard Kapp, who conducted the orchestra until the time of his death in 2006....
.
For more than eleven seasons, Mr. Ravina was music director and conductor of the Montclair Chamber Ensemble.
Recordings
In a career spanning more than four decades, Mr. Ravia recorded solo and chamber music for many record labels, including: Orion, Orion I, RCA Victor, ColumbiaColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, Vox
Vox
Vox is Latin for Voice. It may refer to:* Vocals, a common abbreviation, especially in pro audio-Music:* "Vox" , a song by Sarah McLachlan* Vox Records, an American record label* Vox Records , a German record label...
, Serenus, Nonesuch
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, Spectrum
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
, Crystal Records
Crystal Records
Crystal Records, Inc. is an American producer and distributor of classical chamber and solo music recordings. The company was founded in 1966 by Peter George Christ and is incorporated in the state of Washington....
, New World Records
New World Records
New World Records is a record label based in New York City specialising in American music. The label was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to produce a 100 disc anthology covering 200 years of American music....
, Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, and Centaur Records
Centaur Records
Centaur Records is one of the oldest and largest independent classical labels in America. The company is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was founded in 1976. Their recordings are available in major markets throughout the world, and their catalog includes classical, historical, pops,...
.
Partial discography
- Basically Bach: Sony (2004), with: Edward Power Biggs (organ), Glenn GouldGlenn GouldGlenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
(piano), Hilary HahnHilary HahnHilary Hahn is an American violinist.Hahn was born in Lexington, Virginia. Beginning her studies when she was three years old at Baltimore's Peabody Institute, she was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at age ten, and in 1991, made her major orchestral debut with the...
(violin), Oscar Ravina (violin), Ronald Roseman (oboe), William BennettWilliam Bennett (flautist)William Bennett, OBE is a British flute player, who has played with most of the major British orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and was a frequent guest artist in the Melos Ensemble. He also has a career as a soloist...
(flute), Yo-Yo MaYo-Yo MaYo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
(cello)
- John AdamsJohn AdamsJohn Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
: On the Transmigration of Souls (2004)
- Goin' for Baroque: Sony (1995) Neil BlackNeil BlackNeil Black OBE is an internationally known oboist and a professor at London's Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Starting on the oboe at age 11, Black did not initially consider music as a career. He attended Oxford University and earned a degree in History. Three years after finishing at Oxford,...
(oboe), Oscar Ravina (violin), Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, William Bennett (flute)
- The Baroque Era: The Life, Times & Music Series, 1600-1750 (1992) Musici di San Marco, Neil Black (oboe), Oscar Ravina (violin), Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, William Bennett (flute)
- Mozart: Serenades Nos. 4-7 & 9: Vox Classical (1992) Dieter Vorholz (violin), Gerard SchwarzGerard SchwarzGerard Schwarz is an American conductor. He was music director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 2011.In 2007 Schwarz was named music director of the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, having served as principal conductor since 2005...
(posthorn), Oscar Ravina (violin), Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, Mainz Chamber Orchestra
- Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symbolon; Concerto Grosso; Double Quartet; Trumpet Concerto - New World Records (1989) Christopher Lamb (percussion), Daniel Reed (violin), Hae-Young Ham (violin), Harriet Wingreen (piano), Judith Nelson (viola), Kerry McDermot (violin), Mindy Kaufman (flute), Mindy Kaufman (piccolo), Nancy Donaruma (cello), Oscar Ravina (violin)
- Mozart Serenades. Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, Richard KappRichard KappRichard Kapp was an American conductor.Richard Kapp was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was a child piano prodigy. However, he studied German political history at Johns Hopkins University. He received his BA in 1957...
, Conductor. Oscar Ravina vioin solo - Vox 3 Lp box, SVBX 5107 (1979)
- Greatest Hits Of 1720: CBS (1977) Gerard SchwarzGerard SchwarzGerard Schwarz is an American conductor. He was music director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 2011.In 2007 Schwarz was named music director of the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, having served as principal conductor since 2005...
(trumpet), Judith Norell (soprano), Matitahu Braun (violin), Oscar Ravina (violin), Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, Ronald Roseman (oboe), Richard Kapp (conductor)
Notable performances
- Montclair State College Orchestra: Mr. Ravina, conductor; Eric Schaberg, violinist (concerto competition winner). Max BruchMax BruchMax Christian Friedrich Bruch , also known as Max Karl August Bruch, was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin repertoire.-Life:Bruch was born in Cologne, Rhine Province, where he...
's Violin Concerto in G.
- Weill Recital Hall 1997, 1999, 2002
Teaching legacy
Mr. Ravina taught hundreds of students over the last three decades. Some of the groups that they have gone on to play with include:Montclair Chamber Players, Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra
Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra
The Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra is a community orchestra group in the New York City metropolitan area.Founded in 1973, the orchestra consists of a mix of amateur, semi-professional, and professional musicians who play concerts throughout the year at the Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity in the...
, New Sussex Symphony, Mannes Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony
Grand Rapids Symphony
The Grand Rapids Symphony is a regional orchestra located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. At the end of its 75th Anniversary Season, the Symphony made its debut in New York City’s Carnegie Hall on May 21, 2005. The Symphony has presented concerts throughout Michigan and is heard on broadcasts by WBLV...
, St. Cecila Chorus and Orchestra, N.J. Pops, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra was a 79 member orchestra located in Syracuse, NY. In its time it was the 43rd largest orchestra in the United States and performed a variety of programs including the Post-Standard Classics Series and M&T Bank Pops Series....
, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra
Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra
The Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA.The Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra can be traced back to the early 1930s during the throes of the Great Depression. The orchestra gave its first concert at William Penn High School in Harrisburg on...
, Munich Symphony Orchestra
Munich Symphony Orchestra
The Munich Symphony Orchestra is a German orchestra based in Munich. Kurt Graunke founded the orchestra as the Graunke Symphony Orchestra in 1945. The orchestra acquired its current name in 1990...
, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra located in the state of New Jersey, United States. Philip James founded the orchestra in 1922. The orchestra is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Neeme Järvi, the NJSO's music director from 2005 to 2009, is currently the orchestra's...
, Montclair Chamber Ensemble, Chelsea Opera
Chelsea Opera
-History:Chelsea Opera was founded in April, 2004 by Leonarda Priore and Lynne Hayden-Findlay, both singers, who sought to create more performance opportunities within the tri-state area. Musical direction since inception has been provided by Conductor Carmine Aufiero...
, Orchestra-of-the-Bronx, Garden State Philharmonic, Staten Island Symphony, Harlem Festival Orchestra, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra, Key West Symphony and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic
Hudson Valley Philharmonic
The Hudson Valley Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in Poughkeepsie, New York in the United States. The Hudson Valley Philharmonic also known as HVP began in 1932 and it serves the Hudson Valley region....
.