Jaroslav Kocian
Jaroslav Kocian was a Czech violinist, music educator, and composer. He was born on 22 February 1883 in Ústí nad Orlicí, the son of a musician. He began studying the violin at the age of four and made his first public appearance that same year.
After studying with his father, Kocian worked with Josef Zabrodský, director of the town choir. In 1893 he entered the Prague Conservatory, where he studied violin with Otakar Ševčík, who had previously been his father's fellow student. He also studied composition with Antonín Dvořák and learned piano.
At his 1901 conservatory graduation, Kocian appeared at the Rudolfinum on three consecutive days: as a violinist performing a concerto by Niccolò Paganini, as a composer and conductor presenting his own Romance for Violin and Orchestra, and as a pianist in a piano trio.
From 1901 he toured widely in Europe and made his Carnegie Hall debut in New York in 1902. At the invitation of his fellow student František Stupka, he settled in Odesa in 1907, teaching at the Odesa School of the Imperial Russian Musical Society and leading a string quartet. From 1908 to 1909 he was first violinist of the Duke of Mecklenburg Quartet in St. Petersburg.
After returning to Czechia, Kocian continued his international touring career until ending his performing activity in 1928 in order to devote himself entirely to teaching. He became a professor at the Prague Conservatory in 1929 and served as its rector from 1939 to 1940. His pupils included Josef Suk Jr., Václav Snítil, Jan Sedivka, and Ede Zathureczky. He retired in 1943.
Kocian performed music for the first Czech sound film, Tonka of the Gallows (1930), directed by Karel Anton. A Prague street bears his name, and several Czech string quartets have also been named for him. Since 1959, his native city has hosted an international youth violin competition named in his honor. Kocian died in Prague on 8 March 1950 and was buried at Vyšehrad Cemetery.