Encyclopedia

Sokoloff, Nicolai

Sokoloff, Nicolai (nyikulī' sō'kulôf") [key], 18861965, 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.

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