Feigelson (Feigelsohn) Iosif Izrailevich (14 June 1954, Riga) — cellist.
Iosif Feigelson is widely known internationally as an outstanding musician. He began studying the cello at the age of six. He graduated from the Emīls Dārziņš Music School in 1971 (class of D. Ioffe).
At the age of 12, he became a prizewinner of a young performers’ competition in Chișinău. At 16, after receiving the title of laureate of the Concertino Prague competition, he performed concerts in Czechoslovakia.
In 1971, he was invited by Mstislav Rostropovich to join his class at the Moscow Conservatory. After Rostropovich’s departure to the West, he continued his studies with Natalia Gutman. He graduated from the conservatory in 1976.
He is a laureate of major international competitions:
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow, 1974)
• Johann Sebastian Bach Competition (Leipzig, 1976)
From 1976, he began an active concert career, performing throughout Russia, the Baltic region, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia. He played with major orchestras in leading concert halls of Moscow, Leningrad, Berlin, Prague, Riga, and other cities. His first recordings were released on the “Melodiya” label.
Since 1981, he has lived with his family in the United States, receiving citizenship in 1987. He made his New York debut in 1988, followed by an extensive concert tour across the United States. In 1990, he received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.
His repertoire includes more than 50 works for cello and orchestra, a similar number of sonatas, and many other works for cello, including his own transcriptions. He performs in the United States, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal, France, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the Baltic countries. He is also an artistic director of festivals, a teacher, and gives master classes. He is a promoter of the works of Mieczysław Weinberg.
Recordings on the Olympia label include 24 Preludes for Cello and 4 Cello Sonatas by Weinberg. He has given concerts in Riga since 2000. In 2001, he opened the Mstislav Rostropovich Festival in Riga. He has repeatedly served as a jury member at the International Cello Competition named after Karl Davydov in Kuldīga.
He is the son of I. and D. Feigelson.