Emmanuel Leonievich Metter (February 28, 1878 – August 28, 1941) was a Ukrainian conductor.

Emmanuel Metter was born in Kherson

Kherson

Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry...

, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, in a Jewish family running a business. He entered the faculty of medicine at the Kharkiv National University on August 26, 1897; however, he transferred to the faculty of law on September 7, 1898, graduated in 1906 and became a lawyer. He then entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory

Saint 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:...

 as an unregistered student in September 1906 and studied under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...

 and Alexander Glazunov

Alexander Glazunov

Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor...

. He left the conservatory in May 1907, taught at Moscow Conservatory

Moscow Conservatory

The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...

 and conducted at the Bolshoi Theatre

Bolshoi Theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...

. When Metter was a conductor at the opera house in Kazan

Kazan

Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, he got married to Elena Osovskaya, a Polish prima ballerina of the opera house.

Right before the Russian Revolution (1917) they exiled themselves to Harbin

Harbin

Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...

, Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

 and Metter became conductor of Harbin Symphony Orchestra.
In early 1920s Osovskaya was invited to become a professor at the Takarazuka Revue

Takarazuka Revue

The Takarazuka Revue is a Japanese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals, and sometimes stories adapted from shōjo manga and Japanese folktales. The troupe takes its name...

 in Takarazuka

Takarazuka

Takarazuka can refer to* Takarazuka, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan* Takarazuka Revue, a popular all-female acting troupe in Japan that takes place in Tokyo Takarazuka Theater.* Takarazuka Eiga, a film production company from Takarazuka Revue theater...

, Hyogo Prefecture

Hyogo Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...

, Japan, then Metter moved to Japan also in March 1926. They lived in Kobe

Kobe

, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...

, Hyogo Prefecture

Hyogo Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...

 and Metter succeeded Heinrich Werckmeister and became conductor of the NHK

NHK

NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....

 Osaka Broadcasting Station (JOBK) Orchestra in Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

, Japan. He also conducted Kyoto Imperial University orchestra for more than 10 years. Metter taught many significant Japanese musicians, such as Takashi Asahina

Takashi Asahina

was a Japanese conductor. Born in Tokyo, he founded the Kansai Symphonic Orchestra in 1947 and remained its chief conductor until his death in Kobe. Inspired by a meeting with Wilhelm Furtwängler in the 1950s, he began a lifelong attachment to the music of Anton Bruckner, recording the complete...

 and Ryoichi Hattori

Ryoichi Hattori

was a Japanese pop and jazz composer. Katsuhisa Hattori is his son. He had a great influence on Japanese pop and was awarded the People's Honor Award. Japanese jazz was downtrodden during World War II, but he created a jazz boom in Japan after the war. He composed many songs for various artists...

.

Metter and Osovskaya moved to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California on October 6, 1939. Metter died on August 28, 1941 in West Hollywood, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 of heart disease. Osovskaya died in 1964 at the age of 83. Metter and Osovskaya are buried in Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery.