Nathan "Tossy" Spivakovsky, born December 23, 1906, in Odessa, Imperial Russia, was a violin virtuoso. At age 10, he gave his first recital and by 13 embarked on his first European concert tour with his brother Jacob "Jascha". At age 18, he became the youngest concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic under Wilhelm Furtwängler. He pursued a solo career in Europe during the 1920s. After relocating to Melbourne due to the Nazi rise to power in 1933, he joined the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music faculty. In 1939, he moved to New York City, where he made his debut at Town Hall in 1940. He became concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra in 1942 under Artur Rodziński. He performed the U.S. premiere of Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2 in 1943. His notable album recordings included J.S. Bach's Sonata No. 1 in G minor (1950) and Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 8 in G major, Op. 30 (1950). He passed away on July 20, 1998, in Westport, Connecticut.
