Joseph Press

Josef Isaakovitch Press was a Russian-American cellist.

Biography

Joseph Press was born in Vilnius in 1882 or 1883. He won a gold prize scholarship to the Moscow Conservatory. After graduating, he performed as a soloist, and became head of the cello department at the Petrograd Conservatory.
He performed in the concerts of the Society for Jewish Folk Music which also featured violinists Jascha Heifetz and Efrem Zimbalist the bass Feodor Chaliapin. In 1921, he emigrated to America with his brother, Michael Press.
He began teaching at the Eastman School of Music in 1922. He died of pneumonia in Rochester, New York on October 4, 1924.