Grigory Isaakovich Gershfeld was a Russian, Ukrainian, and Moldavian composer, violinist, and teacher. He was born in Vinnytsia into a hereditary klezmer family.
From 1901 to 1904 he studied violin at the Odessa Music School, and from 1904 to 1907 he continued his studies at the Kyiv Music School. Between 1907 and 1916 he taught violin at the Higher National School in Bobrynets, in the Elisavetgrad district of Kherson Governorate. From 1918 to 1923 he taught at the boys' gymnasium, later a school, in the same town.
From 1923 he worked as a violin teacher in music schools in Berdychiv. From 1937 he taught in Tiraspol, and during the evacuation years of the Second World War he worked in Namangan. From 1944 he taught at the conservatory in Chișinău that had been newly organized by his son, the composer David Gershfeld. From 1946 he served there as an associate professor of violin, viola, and domra. Until 1953 he also taught and was head of studies at the E. Coca ten-year music school in Chișinău.
Among Gershfeld's students was the prominent Moldavian conductor and violinist Sergey Lunkevich, founder of the ensemble Fluierash. As a composer, Gershfeld wrote works for violin and orchestra, including the Fantasy (1947); for wind orchestra, including marches, the overture Red Cavalry (1923), and a Quartet (1931); for string quartet, including Song Without Words (1914); for violin and piano, including Variations (1912) and Concert Etude (1945); solo violin pieces, including Studies for Beginners in All Positions; and pieces for cello and piano written in 1951, along with other works.
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