Klara Berkovich
Encyclopedia
Klara Yefimovna Berkovich (née Gordion, born 19 May 1928) is a Soviet and American violinist and master violin
teacher who divided her career between the Soviet Union
and the United States
.
, Ukraine
(then part of the Soviet Union
), the only child of Yefim Josefovich Gordion, a machinist, and Adele Raphaelovna Tesler, a teacher of Russian language
and literature. A cosmopolitan city, Odessa was becoming a hotbed of Soviet violinists, thanks largely to Pyotr Stolyarsky and his disciples, who perfected a pedagogical method for teaching children from ages as young as four. Nathan Milstein
, David Oistrakh
, Boris Goldstein
, Elizabeth Gilels
, and Mikhail Fikhtengoltz
would all emerge from Odessa, along with many others.
In 1934, Klara at age 7 began to study violin at Special Music School No. 1 with Viktor Karakes, a former student of Stolyarsky who in addition to teaching played in theatre
orchestras. Alongside her musical studies, Klara pursued regular academic studies in the public schools of Odessa.
threw Odessa into turmoil. When Klara was 13, the German army invaded the Ukrainian SSR
and the Soviet Union
was drawn into World War II on the side of the Allies
. Needing soldiers, the Soviet army
conscripted many ordinary citizens from Odessa, among them Yefim Gordion, Klara’s father, who was 49 years old. The family never saw him again.
As Nazi forces closed on Odessa, Klara and her mother—knowing the danger they faced as Jews--fled by ship on 12 August 1941, across the Black Sea
. Seeking sanctuary, they wound up in the village of Kafkas, where they stayed for a year. During that time Klara taught her first violin student.
In August 1942, with the Germans advancing more deeply into the Soviet Union, Klara and her mother left Kafkas on foot. Moving to the east and north and traveling alone, they walked, hitchhiked, jumped freight trains, and slept in train stations and city squares. As they moved, part of a great tide of travelers, they survived by taking odd jobs and by selling Mrs. Gordion's wedding ring and all else they could spare. In two months on the road, they covered more than 1500 miles. They arrived in the Siberia
n town of Novosibirsk
in October, just before winter 1942. It was already so cold that the milk froze on the streets.
Mother and daughter remained in Novosibirsk until the end of World War II, a period of nearly three years. Klara attended public high school in Novosobirsk for her academic work and resumed musical studies in the Novosibirsk Special Music School. There her new violin professor was Josef Gutmann, a fine and experienced teacher who had fled Kiev
for Siberia to escape the Germans. Gutmann refined her playing along lines of greater ease and relaxation and prepared her for conservatory studies.
Under Lembersky, Klara Gordion pursued a five-year program that led to her Master’s degree in Chamber Music and Teaching in 1951, at the age of 23. The year she graduated, she won a section position as first violinist in the Orchestra of the Odessa Theatre of Opera and Ballet.
, so Klara and her mother left Odessa and joined him there.
Arriving in the city in 1953, Klara Berkovich wanted to teach, but she lacked connections in the music community. When she applied to the civic authorities for a position in the city’s music schools, she was told there were no local openings for inexperienced candidates. There was, however, a vacancy in Vyborg
, a formerly Finnish town six hours to the north by train. She took the job. Every Wednesday she caught the midnight train to Vyborg, taught children Thursday through Saturday, and returned to Leningrad on the Saturday overnight. At the end of the school year her work was examined by the musical authorities in Leningrad, and she was awarded a permanent teaching position at the Special School for the Musically Gifted in the Leningrad borough of Petrograd.
At that Special School, from 1954 to 1978, Klara Berkovich focused on students in grades 1-8, preparing them for admission to the elite preparatory high school of the Leningrad Conservatory. Over that time she became one of the most esteemed teachers of young violinists in the city. Among her many students in Leningrad were Katia Borkhsenius, Olga Mardkovich, Yudif Yofah, Marina Klurfeld, and Leonid Berkovich.
, quietly retired from her job in December 1978. Immediately thereafter Adam, as the head of the family, applied to emigrate
with his wife and their two sons—and received the routine harangue at work before being fired.
After a four-month wait in Leningrad, in March 1979 the Berkoviches obtained visas and left for Vienna, Austria. They were permitted to carry out of the Soviet Union three suitcases for their family of four. Mrs. Berkovich's violin was judged too valuable to be permitted to leave the country, so she gave it to her student Lena Ilyichova. Her son’s violin, however, was deemed cheap enough to go with him. After two months in Vienna
, where Jewish aid organizations assisted them, the Berkoviches traveled to a suburb of Rome
, Italy
, where they waited weeks more for entry visas to arrive from the United States.
, Maryland
. Klara Berkovich and her husband were 51; their sons were 20 and 24. Her entire vocabulary in English consisted of three sentences: “My name is Klara.” “I come from Leningrad.” “I am a violin teacher.”
With no musical contacts in the Baltimore community, Mrs. Berkovich began to study English and taught violin to the children of other Soviet immigrants in the Jewish community for free. When she thought they were ready, she formed her studio into a performing group that played together in synagogues, schools, at open-air fairs—anywhere they could get a hearing. After nine months of teaching in Baltimore, Berkovich invited the director of the Peabody Conservatory’s preparatory division, Lynn Taylor Hebden, to come to a performance. After the concert, Ms. Hebden offered scholarship aid at the Peabody Preparatory to the students and a part-time teaching job to Berkovich, with her initial responsibility being to continue teaching those students under the auspices of the Prep.
In September 1980, Berkovich was assigned her first English speaking students and became a regular part-time instructor at the Peabody Preparatory. Shortly thereafter, she found a second part-time position, this one giving violin lessons to talented students from several public schools in Baltimore at two locations: City College High School and Roland Park Elementary School. This teaching was part of the program of the Baltimore Talent Education Center (BTEC), a city-wide magnet program. Travel was required between the two locations, so at age 52 Mrs. Berkovich bought a used car and learned to drive.
Her part-time status lasted less than a year. In May 1981, both the Peabody Prep and BTEC invited her to join their faculties as a regular teacher and offered her full benefits. In addition she maintained a studio of private students in her home, and in 1984 she added summer teaching when she joined the faculty of a Baltimore children’s workshop called the Bryn Mawr String Camp. In the summer of 1985, one of the smallest students in her elementary class at the camp was a 5-year-old Suzuki beginner named Hilary Hahn, who a few months later entered Berkovich's studio at the Peabody Preparatory.
Berkovich also stressed the importance of a positive learning environment. Interviewed in the Baltimore Sun, she said, "I know many children who are very gifted. But if the children are not taught how to organize themselves, how to work, how to be goal-oriented, then their talent does not become realized." And she paid close attention to the capacity of her students. Describing her work with Hilary Hahn, she told the Sun, "'She was 5 when I met her.... She played me a song with four lines that was a minute and a half long. Five and a half years later, she played a solo recital with a program that took more than an hour... Hilary has the gift of nature. She is musical. And she is a bright child, always with a book... Well-organized with a long span of concentration. Diligent. I never told her two times the same thing. Whatever I told her, it was done for the next lesson, sometimes with extra.... And when she was progressing so fast, I would tell her parents, 'I'm afraid to push too much, she's still 6, 7! Doesn't she complain it's too hard for her?' But it was never too much. I cannot say she was ever overworked."
. In 1990 Klara Berkovich retired from teaching at the Baltimore Talent Education Center, and in 1992 she retired from the Peabody Preparatory. She maintained a small private studio of students well into her 80s.
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
teacher who divided her career between the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Early years
Klara Berkovich was born in OdessaOdessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, 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...
(then part of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
), the only child of Yefim Josefovich Gordion, a machinist, and Adele Raphaelovna Tesler, a teacher of Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and literature. A cosmopolitan city, Odessa was becoming a hotbed of Soviet violinists, thanks largely to Pyotr Stolyarsky and his disciples, who perfected a pedagogical method for teaching children from ages as young as four. Nathan Milstein
Nathan Milstein
Nathan Mironovich Milstein was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist.Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for works from the Romantic period...
, David Oistrakh
David Oistrakh
David Fyodorovich Oistrakh , , David Fiodorović Ojstrakh, ; – October 24, 1974, was a Soviet violinist....
, Boris Goldstein
Boris Goldstein
Boris Goldstein was one of the brightest stars of violin....
, Elizabeth Gilels
Elizabeth Gilels
Elizabeth Gilels - was a Soviet violinist from a musical family.-Biography:Born in Odessa, to a Jewish musical family ....
, and Mikhail Fikhtengoltz
Mikhail fikhtengoltz
Mikhail Izrailevich Fichtenholz - was a Soviet violinist. A pupil of the eminent pedagogue Pyotr Stolyarsky, he won the national competition for young performers in Leningrad Mikhail Izrailevich Fichtenholz (1 June 1920 - d. 1985) - was a Soviet violinist. A pupil of the eminent pedagogue Pyotr...
would all emerge from Odessa, along with many others.
In 1934, Klara at age 7 began to study violin at Special Music School No. 1 with Viktor Karakes, a former student of Stolyarsky who in addition to teaching played in theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
orchestras. Alongside her musical studies, Klara pursued regular academic studies in the public schools of Odessa.
During WWII
World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
threw Odessa into turmoil. When Klara was 13, the German army invaded the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was drawn into World War II on the side of the Allies
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
. Needing soldiers, the Soviet army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
conscripted many ordinary citizens from Odessa, among them Yefim Gordion, Klara’s father, who was 49 years old. The family never saw him again.
As Nazi forces closed on Odessa, Klara and her mother—knowing the danger they faced as Jews--fled by ship on 12 August 1941, across the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
. Seeking sanctuary, they wound up in the village of Kafkas, where they stayed for a year. During that time Klara taught her first violin student.
In August 1942, with the Germans advancing more deeply into the Soviet Union, Klara and her mother left Kafkas on foot. Moving to the east and north and traveling alone, they walked, hitchhiked, jumped freight trains, and slept in train stations and city squares. As they moved, part of a great tide of travelers, they survived by taking odd jobs and by selling Mrs. Gordion's wedding ring and all else they could spare. In two months on the road, they covered more than 1500 miles. They arrived in the Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n town of Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
in October, just before winter 1942. It was already so cold that the milk froze on the streets.
Mother and daughter remained in Novosibirsk until the end of World War II, a period of nearly three years. Klara attended public high school in Novosobirsk for her academic work and resumed musical studies in the Novosibirsk Special Music School. There her new violin professor was Josef Gutmann, a fine and experienced teacher who had fled Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
for Siberia to escape the Germans. Gutmann refined her playing along lines of greater ease and relaxation and prepared her for conservatory studies.
In Post-war Odessa
In 1945 the war ended, and Klara graduated from high school in Novosibirsk. With the Nazis defeated and departed, she and her mother returned to find a devastated Odessa. Klara, now 17, auditioned for the Odessa Conservatory. She was admitted as a student of Leonid Lembersky, a renowned pedagogue and former student of Stolyarsky who concertized widely as a soloist and chamber musician in the Ukraine. In addition to his conservatory students, Lembersky also taught several students in the elite Stolyarsky Academy. (Lembersky’s daughter, Suzanna Lemberskaya, was for a time a student of Klara’s; she later became a pianist and opera coach with the San Francisco and Pittsburgh operas.)Under Lembersky, Klara Gordion pursued a five-year program that led to her Master’s degree in Chamber Music and Teaching in 1951, at the age of 23. The year she graduated, she won a section position as first violinist in the Orchestra of the Odessa Theatre of Opera and Ballet.
In Leningrad
After two years in the Odessa opera orchestra, Klara met Adam Adolfovich Berkovich, a 25-year-old army engineer who was visiting his parents in Odessa. They had known each other slightly as children, and soon they married. Adam was based in LeningradLeningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
, so Klara and her mother left Odessa and joined him there.
Arriving in the city in 1953, Klara Berkovich wanted to teach, but she lacked connections in the music community. When she applied to the civic authorities for a position in the city’s music schools, she was told there were no local openings for inexperienced candidates. There was, however, a vacancy in Vyborg
Vyborg
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
, a formerly Finnish town six hours to the north by train. She took the job. Every Wednesday she caught the midnight train to Vyborg, taught children Thursday through Saturday, and returned to Leningrad on the Saturday overnight. At the end of the school year her work was examined by the musical authorities in Leningrad, and she was awarded a permanent teaching position at the Special School for the Musically Gifted in the Leningrad borough of Petrograd.
At that Special School, from 1954 to 1978, Klara Berkovich focused on students in grades 1-8, preparing them for admission to the elite preparatory high school of the Leningrad Conservatory. Over that time she became one of the most esteemed teachers of young violinists in the city. Among her many students in Leningrad were Katia Borkhsenius, Olga Mardkovich, Yudif Yofah, Marina Klurfeld, and Leonid Berkovich.
Decision to emigrate
In April 1978, Adele Gordion, Klara’s mother, passed away at the age of 84. This happened at a time when the Soviet Union was briefly loosening its emigration restrictions for Jews. The Berkoviches had long thought that their two boys would have greater opportunities if they started a new life elsewhere. After looking into the support available outside the Soviet Union for emigrating Jews, they decided to emigrate. To sidestep being dismissed for disloyalty, Mrs. Berkovich, with 25 years of teaching experience and eligible for a pensionPension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
, quietly retired from her job in December 1978. Immediately thereafter Adam, as the head of the family, applied to emigrate
Emigrate
Emigrate is a heavy metal band based in New York, led by Richard Z. Kruspe, the lead guitarist of the German band Rammstein.-History:Kruspe started the band in 2005, when Rammstein decided to take a year off from touring and recording...
with his wife and their two sons—and received the routine harangue at work before being fired.
After a four-month wait in Leningrad, in March 1979 the Berkoviches obtained visas and left for Vienna, Austria. They were permitted to carry out of the Soviet Union three suitcases for their family of four. Mrs. Berkovich's violin was judged too valuable to be permitted to leave the country, so she gave it to her student Lena Ilyichova. Her son’s violin, however, was deemed cheap enough to go with him. After two months in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, where Jewish aid organizations assisted them, the Berkoviches traveled to a suburb of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, where they waited weeks more for entry visas to arrive from the United States.
In Baltimore
In June 1979, the Berkovich family flew to BaltimoreBaltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. Klara Berkovich and her husband were 51; their sons were 20 and 24. Her entire vocabulary in English consisted of three sentences: “My name is Klara.” “I come from Leningrad.” “I am a violin teacher.”
With no musical contacts in the Baltimore community, Mrs. Berkovich began to study English and taught violin to the children of other Soviet immigrants in the Jewish community for free. When she thought they were ready, she formed her studio into a performing group that played together in synagogues, schools, at open-air fairs—anywhere they could get a hearing. After nine months of teaching in Baltimore, Berkovich invited the director of the Peabody Conservatory’s preparatory division, Lynn Taylor Hebden, to come to a performance. After the concert, Ms. Hebden offered scholarship aid at the Peabody Preparatory to the students and a part-time teaching job to Berkovich, with her initial responsibility being to continue teaching those students under the auspices of the Prep.
In September 1980, Berkovich was assigned her first English speaking students and became a regular part-time instructor at the Peabody Preparatory. Shortly thereafter, she found a second part-time position, this one giving violin lessons to talented students from several public schools in Baltimore at two locations: City College High School and Roland Park Elementary School. This teaching was part of the program of the Baltimore Talent Education Center (BTEC), a city-wide magnet program. Travel was required between the two locations, so at age 52 Mrs. Berkovich bought a used car and learned to drive.
Her part-time status lasted less than a year. In May 1981, both the Peabody Prep and BTEC invited her to join their faculties as a regular teacher and offered her full benefits. In addition she maintained a studio of private students in her home, and in 1984 she added summer teaching when she joined the faculty of a Baltimore children’s workshop called the Bryn Mawr String Camp. In the summer of 1985, one of the smallest students in her elementary class at the camp was a 5-year-old Suzuki beginner named Hilary Hahn, who a few months later entered Berkovich's studio at the Peabody Preparatory.
Approach to teaching
Hilary Hahn would later describe Berkovich's teaching in interviews. "I studied with her for five years at Peabody Prep. She taught me how to draw my bow, how to play double stops, vibrato, pizzicato—basically everything you need to know to play the violin. She also taught me the basics of phrasing, so I knew what to do with a phrase and how to make something interesting." Among other things, Berkovich used to tell Hahn, “You only have to practice on the days you eat,” and "what shows a true musician is that you can sustain a long line in a slow section." Others recalled Berkovich speaking to children about upcoming performances: "When you perform, you're the hostess. The members of the audience are the guests you invite into your house. You give them the gift of the performance.... The idea is that it's important to get the piece across well so that the people can enjoy it more. The fun of it is the fun of sharing something you can do well."Berkovich also stressed the importance of a positive learning environment. Interviewed in the Baltimore Sun, she said, "I know many children who are very gifted. But if the children are not taught how to organize themselves, how to work, how to be goal-oriented, then their talent does not become realized." And she paid close attention to the capacity of her students. Describing her work with Hilary Hahn, she told the Sun, "'She was 5 when I met her.... She played me a song with four lines that was a minute and a half long. Five and a half years later, she played a solo recital with a program that took more than an hour... Hilary has the gift of nature. She is musical. And she is a bright child, always with a book... Well-organized with a long span of concentration. Diligent. I never told her two times the same thing. Whatever I told her, it was done for the next lesson, sometimes with extra.... And when she was progressing so fast, I would tell her parents, 'I'm afraid to push too much, she's still 6, 7! Doesn't she complain it's too hard for her?' But it was never too much. I cannot say she was ever overworked."
Later years
In the United States, Mrs. Berkovich’s reputation as a teacher grew quickly, supported both by the playing of her students and by her clear and musical way of teaching in repertoire and master classes throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. In May 1989, she was named “String Teacher of the Year” by the Maryland/D.C. chapter of the American String Teachers AssociationAmerican String Teachers Association
The American String Teacher's Association is a professional organization based in the United States for music teachers. It is the largest such national organization in the US for string teachers. It promotes learning to play string instruments in the next generation of American students, and...
. In 1990 Klara Berkovich retired from teaching at the Baltimore Talent Education Center, and in 1992 she retired from the Peabody Preparatory. She maintained a small private studio of students well into her 80s.