Veniamin Margolin, photo from ITG archives

Russian trumpeter Veniamin Savelyevich Margolin (1922 – 2009) was born in Petrograd. A renowned trumpeter and teacher, his accolades include being named an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation in 1963 and the ITG Award of Merit which he received at the 2005 Bangkok conference. From 1944-47 he was employed by the Kirov Theater in Mariinskiy. In 1947 he became the solo trumpeter of the Leningrad Philharmonic, conducted by Evgeny Mravinsky who loved and appreciated his playing, where he played until 1974.

Among the highlights of his career, one can find that Margolin was personally thanked by Dmitri Shostakovich for his performance in the composer's Symphony No. 8 in 1960 and personally thanked by Igor Stravinsky for his performance in Stravinsky's Wind Octet in 1962. Rastrapovich considered Margolin's performance of the trumpet part in Prokofiev's Cello Concerto to be the ideal standard.

Margolin was also very involved with education. He served as a teacher at the Leningrad Conservatory from 1955-56, 1988-2009, and was made a professor in 1991. In addition to teaching at the Leningrad Conservatory, he taught at the Institute of Culture from 1974-1988, as a full professor from 1984.

At this time, we are reminded of one of Margolin’s favorite expressions, “Trumpet is not an instrument. Trumpet is character!” Mr. Margolin will be sadly missed by his colleagues, his students and his many friends around the world.