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By PlaybillArts Staff
17 Dec 2008
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| Valentin Berlinsky in 2005 |
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| photo by Stanley Fefferman |
Long-revered Russian cellist Valentin Berlinsky died in Moscow Dec. 15 at the age of 83. Berlinsky was the only remaining original member of the famed Borodin Quartet, the oldest chamber ensemble in the country.
Valentin Alexandrovich Berlinsky was born in Irkutsk city on Jan 19, 1925. As a child he learned the violin from his father, a student of Leopold Auer. In Moscow he graduated from the Central Music School (1941), the Moscow Conservatoire (1947) and pursued post-graduate studies at the Gnesin State Music Teaching Institute (1952) for the cello, taught by Semion Kozolupov. In 1944 he helped found a student string quartet, which joined with Moscow Philharmonics in 1946, and was named Aleksandr Borodin Quartet in 1955. It would become one of the leading national chamber ensembles.
From 1947 Berlinsky taught the cello and chamber ensemble at the Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov Music College and, from 1970, taught at the Russian Gnesins Music Academy. He is responsible for a number of quartet collectives.
Since 2001 Berlinsky served as President of the Borodin Quartet's Charity Fund of, which supports young gifted musicians. He was also Chairman of the Trustee Committee of the Russian Performing Arts Fund.
A farewell ceremony will be held at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall on Dec. 18. Berlinsky will be laid to rest at Vagankovskoe Cemetery.
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Bio courtesy of Russia-InfoCentre
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