Vladimir Golschmann

Vladimir Golschmann (Paris, 1893 – New York, 1972) was an American conductor, born in France into a family of Russian origin. The brother of the musician Boris Golschmann, he stands at the transition between the European avant-garde of the interwar years and orchestral life in the United States, where he spent most of his career.

His initial training centred on the violin and the piano, and at the Schola Cantorum in Paris he completed studies in harmony, counterpoint and composition. He began as an orchestral violinist, but conducting was already his goal. In 1919 he founded the Golschmann Concerts, devoted above all to the avant-garde music of the day and, in particular, to the works of Les Six. Over the following four years he conducted for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and the Popular Concerts in Brussels, and as musical director of the Théâtre Bériza he premiered chamber operas by Ibert, Milhaud, Florent Schmitt and other composers.

His American debut took place in 1923 at the head of Les Ballets Suédois, founded by Rolf de Maré, and in 1924 he began concert collaborations with the New York Symphony Society. After several more years in Europe, including a period as conductor of the Scottish Orchestra (1928–1930), a guest appearance with the St. Louis Symphony in 1931 led to his appointment as the orchestra's music director that same autumn. He remained in the post for twenty-five years, settled permanently in the United States in 1934 and became an American citizen in 1947.

Throughout this period he continued to champion new and little-known works. His repertoire ranged from Russian ballet and the concertos of Beethoven to the Parisian music he so admired, thanks to a refined technique and a temperament of pronounced Romantic character. After 1956 he continued to conduct frequently in St. Louis as conductor emeritus and, in 1957, he was visiting professor at George Washington University in that city, which awarded him an honorary doctorate. He also served as musical director of the Tulsa Symphony (1958–1961) and of the Denver Symphony from 1964 to 1970.