Irma Jaunzem

Initially performing with small ensembles, she soon began to specialize in Belarusian folk songs which she collected from her travels to villages throughout the country.

In 1917, she returned to Minsk for the summer holidays but as a result of the commotion caused by the Russian Revolution, she was forced to earn a living by working with small musical groups performing in provincial theatres.

After the hostilities ceased, she performed with two budding young musicians, the pianist Vladimir Horowitz and the violinist Nathan Milstein.

Thanks to her discoveries, she included Belaruian folk songs in her performances in the country's most prominent theatres, gaining the support of the Belarusian authorities and becoming a soloist with the Moscow Philharmonic Society in 1925.

In the 1930s, encouraged by the Academy of Sciences work in Leningrad in support of folklore research, she undertook tours of Central Asia, documenting the local folk songs.