Luigi von Kunits

Luigi from Kunits ( Ludwig Paul Mary of Kunits, born July 20, 1870 in Vienna, † October 8, 1931 in Toronto ) was an Austrian violinist, conductor, composer and music teacher.

From Kunits studied in Vienna violin at Otakar Sevcik and Jacob Green, composition with Anton Bruckner and music history with Eduard Hanslick. He was acquainted with Karl Goldmark and Johann Strauss, Johannes Brahms and entrusted the eleven year olds with the part of the second violin in one of his string quartets. Eighteen- year results of Kunits own Violin Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic.

In 1893 he traveled with an Austrian orchestra for the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He taught there until 1896 violin and then went to Pittsburgh, where he worked as musical director and conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and teacher at the conservatory. In the following two years he traveled as a violin soloist throughout Europe, playing alongside his own violin concertos of Johannes Brahms, Henryk Wieniawski, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Niccolo Paganini.

In 1912, he received an offer to teach at the Canadian Academy of Music in Toronto. He established the Academy String Quartet, which existed until 1923 and 1922, the New Symphony Orchestra ( since 1928 Toronto Symphony Orchestra ). Among his students were artists such as Harry Adaskin, Vera Bairstow, Charles Wakefield Cadman, Ernest Dainty, Frank Fusco, Eugene Kash, Harvey Perrin, Albert Pratz, Paul Scherman, Stanley Solomon, Maurice Solway, Albert Steinberg, Berul Sugarman and Geoffrey Waddington.

From Kunits among others composed two violin concertos, a string quartet, a violin sonata, pieces for violin and piano as well as some songs.