Boris Koutzen (4/1/1901 – 12/10/1966) was a Russian-American violinist and composer who was born in Uman, Russia. He began composing at age six while studying violin with his father. In 1918, he enrolled at the Moscow Conservatory to continue his studies of the violin and won the national competition for the position of first violin in the State Opera House Orchestra. Koutzen later joined the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and then moved to the United States, becoming a first violin in the Philadelphia orchestra, in 1923. He was also a member of the NBC Symphony Orchestra and was head of the violin department at the Philadelphia Conservatory. Koutzen taught violin and conducted at Vassar College until his death in 1966.
Discipline:
Music Composition
Boris Koutzen
Discipline:
Music Composition
Region: Poughkeepsie, NY
MacDowell Fellowships: 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959
Studios
Van Zorn (formerly Kirby)
Boris Koutzen worked in the Van Zorn (formerly Kirby) studio.
Constructed thanks to a bequest from Sarah L. Kirby, Kirby Studio was the last new building to be erected during Mrs. MacDowell’s leadership (1907-1951). The load-bearing masonry walls were laid by local mason Augustus Beaulieu atop a fieldstone foundation. A 1995 renovation preserved the brick fireplace with wooden mantel and…