Maxim Mogilevsky is musician in the fourth generation. His great grand father Alexandre Moguilewsky was a noted violinist, director of the Bands of the Tsar Nicholas the Second and later founder or Stradivarius String Quartet and Moguilewsky String Quartet. He was a close friend of Alexander Scriabin and of Sergei Rachmaninoff. Alexandre has transcribed many works of Scriabin for the violin with the Composer’s approval. They were performed and recorded by David Oistrakh. Alexandre also world premiered Rachmaninoff’s Trio Elegiaque op 9 in D-Minor in Moscow with Brandukoff at the Cello and with Rachmaninoff at the Piano. Alexander later immigrated to France, lived for a while in Harbin where he taught a lot of students. Later he moved to Japan and became a professor at Imperial University in Tokyo. One of his most prominent students was Shinjuku Suzuki who invented a revolutionary music learning method. Alexandre gave a lot of free concerts in favor of people who lost everything in a massive 1925 earthquake in Japan. Alexandre also played for the survivors of Hiroshima in August 1945. His precious instrument Stradivarius that once belonged to Pablo de Sarasate was destroyed in 1945 in Tokyo bombing campaign. Alexandre taught at Tokyo Geidai University and in Kobe University, passed away in 1953 in Tokyo and was buried there.
Alexandre’s brother David Moguilewsky was based in St. Petersburg, founded Glazunov String Quartet, was a close friend of Dmitry Shostakovich; David and his Glazunov String Quartet has premiered Shostakovich’s piano Quintet with Shostakovich himself at the piano.
Leonid Moguilewsky, brother of Alexandre and David, was a first trumpet at the Odessa Opera House; he later founded Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra and was its first music director. The Orchestra has successfully celebrated recently its 75th Anniversary.
Maxim’s maternal grandmother was Tatiana Roumshevich, Chair of Piano Department at the Central School of Music in Leningrad, Russia. She studied with Professors Linde and Felix Blumenfeld who was a teacher of Vladimir Horowitz. Tatiana Roumshevich has produced many talented pianists and prizewinners, including Natalia Trull, winner of Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition Moscow.
Maxim’s grandfather Dmitry Roumshevich was a prominent conductor and pedagogue. He was for a number of years a music director of Michailovsky Theater of St Petersburg. His students include conductor Yuri Simonov.
Seraphima Mogilevsky, Maxim’s paternal grandmother is a graduate of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and a student and assistant to Heinrich Neuhaus and a classmate of Richter. She worked as Professor of Odessa Conservatory and taught many talented pianists and winners of international piano competitions. Her husband Gideon Leizerovich was a student of Professor Igumnov at the Moscow Conservatory and an excellent pianist and scholar.
Yevgeny Mogilevsky, Maxim’s father is a gold medalist at 1964 Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition in Brussels, was the third russian pianist to have won this contest after Emil Gilels and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Yevgeny’s recording of Rachmaninoff’s piano concerto no 3 with Moscow Philharmonic/Kiryll Kondarshine won Best Record of the Year 1973 Award by the Stereo Review Magazine. Some of his numerous prizewinners include, Anna Vinnitskaya gold medalist of 2007 Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition. Yevgeny was a last student of Heinrich Neuhaus and has taught at Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and at Brussels Conservatory. He is also Honorary Doctor and recipient of Tel Aviv University’s President Award. His discography includes 30 solo and concerto titles recorded on Melodia, Japan Victor Company, Angel Records, EMI and Mezhdunarodnaia Kniga. Yevgeny is a Founder and a President of Jury of Gilels International Piano Competition in Odessa, Ukraine.
Olga Mogilevsky-Roumshevich is Maxim’s mother. She studied at St Petersburg Conservatory with Nadezhda Golubovskaya and taught at Moscow Conservatory and at Brussels Royal Conservatory. Olga has appeared as soloist and with orchestra and recorded for BBC in London.
Alexander Mogilevsky, Maxim’s brother, is a Gold Medalist at First International Tchaikovsky Junior Piano Competition in Moscow in 1992. Alexander also recorded for EMI records and for Montblanc International. He is a recipient of Zino Davidoff Prize.