David Finko: Russkij kompozitor v Amerike. [David Finko: A Russian composer in America.]

Finko (b.1936) emigrated to the U.S. in 1979, after having grown up in Leningrad and studying at the Gosudarstvennaja Konservatorija. In the periodical “Musica Judaica” (RILM 19862709) he discussed his experiences with anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union, and identified those as the primary reason for his emigration. In the U.S., besides becoming conductor-in-residence at Combs College, Philadelphia, he has taught at the U. of Texas, El Paso, and at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania. While his works owe a formal debt to the Russian school of composition as represented by Sostakovic, his melodic vocabulary has been enriched by Jewish traditional music. In addition to instrumental and orchestral compositions, he has created a one-act opera, “Klezmers”, based on the Yiddish story “A klezmor toyt” by Isaac L. Peretz. In a revealing interview, Finko also comments on the work of contemporary American composers.