Timofei Gurtovoy
MoldovaBiography of Timofey Gurtovoy
Timofey Ivanovich Gurtovoy was a Moldavian Soviet conductor, trombonist, and educator. He was born on February 23, 1919, in Grigoripol (now within the territory of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic). Gurtovoy studied at the Odessa Music School and Conservatory, specializing in trombone under A.O. Livshits and conducting under V.P. Bazilevich. During 1941-1945, he served as a participant in the war.
In 1947, Gurtovoy graduated from the Kishinev Conservatory, where he studied trombone with S.G. Turilkin and conducting with B.S. Milyutin. He worked as a trombonist from 1946 to 1950 and then as a conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Moldavian State Philharmonic (Kishinev) from 1950 to 1951. Starting from 1951, he became the artistic director of the philharmonic. From 1953 to 1979, he served as the chief conductor and artistic director of the Symphony Orchestra of the Moldavian Philharmonic.
Under his leadership, many fundamental works of world classical music were performed for the first time in Kishinev. He also conducted compositions by Soviet composers such as D. Shostakovich, T. Khrennikov, A. Khachaturian, G. Sviridov, A. Eshpai, K. Dankievich, E. Mirzoyan, O. Taktakishvili, and others. The Symphony Orchestra performed numerous works of Soviet classical music as well as compositions by Moldavian composers V. Zagorski, E. Lazarev, S. Lobel, V. Polyakov, P. Rivilis, and others. Gurtovoy collaborated with renowned musicians and performers such as G. Neigauz, E. Gilels, Ya. Flier, L. Kogan, S. Lemeshev, M. Rostropovich, and many more.
Gurtovoy conducted the first staging of the opera "Domnika's Heart" by A. Styrcha at the Moldavian Theater of Opera and Ballet in 1960. He toured in several cities of the USSR and Romania.
Since 1949, Gurtovoy taught at the Kishinev Conservatory (later known as the State Institute of Arts named after G. Musicescu, now the Academy of Music, Theater, and Fine Arts). He held the positions of associate professor (since 1958) and professor of the opera department (since 1977). He was also a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 6th convocation.
Timofey Ivanovich Gurtovoy passed away on March 10, 1981, in Kishinev. He is buried at the Central (Armenian) Cemetery.
Awards and Honors
- Honored Artist of the Moldavian SSR (1953)
- People's Artist of the USSR (1967)
- State Prize of the Moldavian SSR (1972) for concert programs of symphonic music performed from 1969 to 1971.
- Order of Lenin
- Order "Sign of Honor"
- Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class
- Medals (including combat medals)
