Every time Vladimir Chernov crosses Charles E. Young Drive on his way to lunch, he remembers Vitaly Margulis, a world-renowned pianist, pedagogue and music philosophy author who taught in UCLA’s music department for 17 years and passed away last year.
“We don’t want to forget him, because he was so valuable to us; he is still with us. … Every time we had food together, he had lots of interesting stories about his childhood. He was an encyclopedia,” said Chernov, a professor of voice at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.
Tonight, Margulis will be remembered at a memorial concert, featuring performances by his colleagues Chernov, Kanae Matsumoto, and Daniel Shindarov, and three of his children: Alissa Margulis, Natalia Margulis and Jura Margulis.
“It’s a precious feeling to have next to you such a glorious musician, and he (Margulis) was of the rarest caliber. He was an amazingly educated person in a philosophical way, with an extremely rare sense of humor,” said Chernov.
Margulis was born in Ukraine and took his first piano lessons from his father. He studied and taught at the Leningrad Conservatory in Russia from 1958 to 1974, and in 1975 he became a professor at the Musikhochschule in Germany.
He began teaching at UCLA in 1994, and gave concerts around the world in places such as Los Angeles, New York, Rome, Berlin, Salzburg, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Moscow. Margulis also authored books that focused on the works of Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach.
“It’s not usual that there’s a family (in which) all the members are professional musicians. … He (Margulis) always was inspired by the great musician families of Europe ““ the Mozart family, the Bach family,” said Jura Margulis, who also plays the piano. “His father was a pianist and a teacher, and he felt this was sort of a generational thing; he felt he had to give this to the next generation and he did.”
Jura Margulis and Alissa Margulis, two of his children, said they grew up listening to Margulis practicing every day.
“He was incredibly disciplined, always getting up at six in the morning to practice. Even to the very last days (of his life) he was practicing,” said Alissa Margulis, a violinist.
Matsumoto, a lecturer and collaborative pianist for instrumental students at UCLA, met Vitaly Margulis at a piano master class in Japan in 1998 and moved to the United States to study with him.
“He is … a person that makes you want to be a better person after you meet him or when you are together with him. … Something about him is very inspiring, generous, open. Very noble, yet humorous,” Matsumoto said.
According to Jura Margulis, it’s a privilege to have a memorial in the form of a concert because it preserves the aspect of musicality.
“Most memorials are done by word, but in this case we are playing the instrument he taught us to play; we are just continuing his element,” Jura Margulis said. “For me personally, I play the piano with the hands that he created, so to speak, both biologically and pianistically as my teacher. It’s a very constant presence in a good way.”