Jacques Gershkovitch

Jacques Gershkovitch
Born	1884 Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia
Died	1953 Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Nationality	Russian
Occupations	Conductor musician
Known for	First conductor of the Portland Youth Philharmonic
Spouse	Lucia Gershkovitch

Jacques Gershkovitch (1884–1953) was a Russian conductor and musician who became the first music director of the Portland Junior Symphony (now known as the Portland Youth Philharmonic), the first youth orchestra in the United States, based in Portland, Oregon. Born to a musical family in Irkutsk, Gershkovitch was sent to Saint Petersburg in his late teens to study at the Imperial Conservatory. In 1913, he graduated with honors in flute and conducting, and was awarded the Schubert Scholarship for a year of study under German conductor Arthur Nikisch in Berlin. Gershkovitch returned to Irkutsk to enlist during World War I, and by 1916 he had become head of the Imperial Russian Army's military symphony orchestra. He held this position through the Russian Revolution and thereafter, as concerts were often presented as benefits for orphans and the Red Cross.

Gershkovitch married in Irkutsk in 1918. There, he established a fine arts conservatory and symphony orchestra which continued under the Bolshevik regime. In 1921, he and his wife crossed the border in China to escape from Russia. Ballerina Anna Pavlova offered Gershkovitch the assistant conductor position with her orchestra, which was touring throughout Asia. Gershkovitch remained in Japan to lead the newly organized Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. However, the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake disrupted the organization and caused Gershkovitch and his wife to emigrate to the United States. The couple arrived in San Francisco in November 1923 and made their way to Portland in 1924. There, Gershovitch was approached to lead the Portland Junior Symphony. Known for his discipline and high performance standards, Gershkovitch conducted the orchestra for twenty-nine years, gaining national attention for the ensemble and pioneering the youth orchestra movement until his death in 1953.