“I think it’s a great honor to be named the inaugural Starling Professor,” Kalinovsky said. “I hope the combination of my name and this distinguished award will be a source of greater attractiveness for Jacobs.”
The honor celebrates the excellence of two of the newest faculty members of the renowned String Department.
The award is presented by the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation, which was created in 1969 by Frank M. Starling to support classical violin music.
The award commemorates his wife, Dorothy, who played the violin for many years until she was forced to give up her profession due to various medical reasons in 1930.
The Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation has funded a Starling Foundation Scholarship for 19 years since its association with the Jacobs School of Music in 1983.
Born in a family of musicians in New Jersey and raised in Harlem, New York, world-traveling violin soloist Swensen joined the Jacobs School of Music in the same semester as Kalinovsky in 2013.
“It is a great honor to be named a Starling Professor here at IU,” Swensen said in an email. He said he wanted to accept the honor on behalf of the individual music teachers nationwide who contribute to music education.
He was trained at Juilliard, first in piano and composition. Swensen performed at some of the most exclusive venues for chamber music concerts, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center.
A native of St. Petersberg, Russia, Kalinovsky was the youngest winner of the Bellini International Music Competition in Italy at age 16.
He was trained professionally with some of the most distinguished musicians around the world, including Patinka Kopec and Zukerman.
Before joining the Jacobs School of Music in fall 2013, Kalinovsky had instructing experience including being one of the founding artistic directors at Manhattan in the Mountains.
He was also a celebrated teaching faculty member at many summer music festivals around the world, such as the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine, Soesterberg International Music Festival in Holland, Summit Music Festival in New York and Pavel Vernikov’s festival “Il Violino Magico” in Italy.
“This is the first year I’m teaching at Jacobs and I’m having a wonderful experience,” Kalinovsky said. “The students are some of the most talented and brilliant in the world. We are working really hard to provide them with the best resources to develop their potentials, such as scholarships from the Starling ?Foundation.”
Kalinovsky sees this honor as more of a great motivation for both his students and himself rather than a pressure.
“I believe this title wouldn’t be an extra pressure on me or my students,” he said. “It drives all of us to work harder and continue to make great achievements.”
