Chotzinoff, Samuel (04 July 1889–09 February 1964), music critic, author, and pianist, was born Shmul Chotzinoff in Vitebsk, Russia, the son of Moyshe Bear, a retail merchant, and Rachel Traskenoff. A promising piano student from the age of ten, Samuel emigrated with his parents to the United States at age seventeen, where he continued his piano studies with Oscar Shack at Columbia University. He left Columbia in 1911 without receiving a diploma (although he would receive an honorary doctorate from the university in 1947)....
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Chotzinoff, Samuel (1889-1964), music critic, author, and pianist
James A. Drake
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Marek, George Richard (1902-1987), music writer and business executive
Paula Morgan
Marek, George Richard (13 July 1902–07 January 1987), music writer and business executive, was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Martin Marek, a dentist, and Emily Weisberger. Marek studied at the University of Vienna for two years beginning in 1918, then immigrated to the United States in 1920. He became an American citizen in 1925. The following year he married Muriel Hepner; the couple had one son. Marek’s first job in the United States was with a milliner, first as a stock boy, and later in the ostrich-feather department, but he soon became involved in the advertising field. From 1930 until 1950 he was a vice president with the J. D. Tarcher Agency. In 1950, during his unsuccessful attempt to acquire RCA’s advertising account for Tarcher, Marek was offered a position as manager of artists and repertory in RCA’s Records Division; seven years later he became vice president and general manager of Victor Records....
