When he was five years old, Joseph Achron (1886-1943) began taking violin lessons from his aunt. His father was an amateur violinist who played at the temple and recited prayers. Achron started his career as a child prodigy when he was seven years old, with his first public performance in Warsaw, accompanied by concerts in Russia. In 1899, he enrolled in Leopold Auer's violin class at the Petersburg Conservatory, where he also learned composition under Anatoly Ljadov. In 1911, he became a founder of the Society for Jewish Folk Music and spent the remainder of his time learning and learning Jewish music. His first "Jewish" novel, "Hebrew Melody," became instantly popular thanks to Jascha Heifetz's interpretation. In 1922, Achron traveled to Berlin, where he co-founded the Jewish music publishing business "Jibneh" with Michail Gnesin. Before emigrating to America in 1924, Achron spent a few months in Palestine. Despite considerable popularity with his first violin concerto (which he played as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussewitzky) and the chamber orchestra suite "Golem" (first appearance at the Festival of the International Society for Modern Music in Venice), he was unable to create a reputation for himself in the United States. In his obituary, Arnold Schönberg, a classmate of Achron's, called him "one of the most underrated contemporary composers."