Arkadie Kouguell

Born in Simfaropol, Russia, in 1896, Kouguell began his career as a pianist at the age of nine. At age eleven, he began to study music at the Hochschule und Akademie fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. At age sixteen, he began to study music at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, whose director was Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov.

He was the director of a music academy in the Crimea for a few years, before emigrating to Constantinople, Turkey in 1922. From 1923-1948, he lived in Beirut, Lebanon. In 1928, he was made Professeur Delegue and a member of the examining Jury of the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. He was also made a member of the Society of Authors and Composers of Paris and the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers of Paris.

In 1951, Kouguell and his family came to New York.  Once in the United States, Kouguell began to write Jewish music, specifically Sabbath service liturgy, as well as more general music compositions.

Among his general compositions are works for orchestra, chorus, choral music, chamber music, ballets and solo pieces for strings, voice, piano and woodwinds.

Arkadie Kouguell died in New York on November 20, 1985.