Nikolai Osipov
Nikolai Osipov (full name Nikolai Petrovich Osipov; 1901–1945) was a Soviet balalaika player, teacher, conductor, and leader of the Orchestra of Folk Instruments, which was named after him in 1946. He was named an Honored Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1940.
Osipov was born on 28 January 1901 in St. Petersburg. His first balalaika lessons were given by the caretaker S. G. Sokolov, a pupil of Vasily Andreyev. He subsequently studied with A. M. Dykhov, a member of the Great Russian Orchestra, now the V. V. Andreyev State Academic Russian Orchestra, and also performed with that ensemble. He later graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied violin with Professor E. E. Kruger.
From 1922 Osipov lived in Moscow, performing at plants, factories, and military units. He maintained friendships with Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Reinhold Glière, and Sergei Vasilenko, and gave concerts with the actors Vasily Kachalov and Nikolai Smirnov-Sokolsky.
In 1928 he became a soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic. Between 1930 and 1940, he taught balalaika at the Moscow Music Pedagogical College of the October Revolution. From 1940 he served as artistic director and conductor of the State Orchestra of Folk Instruments; after his death, the orchestra was given his name.
Osipov died in Moscow on 9 May 1945 and was buried at Vagankovo Cemetery. His name is also borne by a children's music school in Moscow, where a museum dedicated to him opened in 2007.