Sokoloff, Nicolai

Related Category: Music: History, Composers, and Performers: Biographies

(nyĭkəlī´ sō´kəlôf´´), 1886–1965, American conductor and violinist, b. near Kiev, Russia. After studying at Yale and under Charles Martin Loeffler, he toured France and England as a violinist. He was the first conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, 1918–32; directed the Federal Music Project, 1935–38; and conducted the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, 1938–40. Subsequently he directed the Musical Arts Society at La Jolla, Calif.