Julius Conus

Who was Julius Conus?

Julius Conus was a Russian Empire and Soviet violinist and composer.

Conus was born in Moscow on 1 February [O.S. 20 January] 1869 to a distinguished musical family of French extraction who had migrated to Russia at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. His father was the piano teacher Eduard Conus, and his brothers were the composer and music teacher Georgi Conus and pianist Lev Conus. All three studied at Moscow Conservatory under Sergei Taneyev and Anton Arensky, and all three stayed on to teach there.

In 1888 he won the Gold Medal at the Moscow Conservatory. He then studied in Paris, where he played the violin in the Opera orchestra and was a virtuoso in his own right for several years. In 1891, he became a concertmaster in New York City. From 1893 to 1901, he taught violin at the Moscow Conservatory and formed a close friendship with Sergei Rachmaninoff. One of his notable students was violinist, composer, and conductor Alexander Chuhaldin. He also gave concerts, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, appearing sometimes in a Trio or other ensemble with Rachmaninoff to play the latter's works.