Mischa Mischakoff

Mischa Mischakoff[a] (April 16, 1895 – February 1, 1981, born Mykhailo Isaakovych Fishberg[b]) was an outstanding violinist who, as a concertmaster, led many of America's greatest orchestras from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Mischakoff was born in Proskuriv, Russian Empire (now Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine).

In 1921 he escaped from Russia with, among others, his friend and colleague, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, with whom he had played in the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Mischakoff emigrated to the United States later that year, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1927.

In 1951, Joseph Wechsberg wrote in Holiday Magazine that for a mythical dream orchestra composed of America's major orchestral leaders, Mischakoff would be the pick among concertmasters for head of first violins.