Eugene Gratovich
Eugene Gratovich is a violinist. Born in Ukraine in 1941, he began his violin studies in Germany at the age of seven, In 1950 he was invited by Alexandra Tolstoy to come to the United States with his family to continue his musical studies. Gratovich has appeared as soloist with leading American orchestras and has played recitals in major cities of the US and Europe. He has championed the cause of both American and Ukrainian music, and the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute honored him in 1976 in sponsoring a solo recital in Boston in recognition of his contribution to Ukrainian music. He has commissioned 16 original etudes, funded by the American String Teacher Assoc., which he recorded on “20th Century Concert Etudes for Solo Violin” with Titanic Records (Ti-199), funded by The National Endowment for the Arts. He has served as concertmaster for the San Jose (CA) Symphony Orchestra, San Gabriel (CA) Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, and Acting Concertmaster of the Austin Symphony Orchestra and the Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra. He has toured extensively with the Boston “Pops” Orchestra under the late Arthur Fiedler, John Williams, the late Erich Kunzel, among others.
