Background
Lemba, Artur was born on September 24, 1885 in Revel (Tallinn).
Lemba, Artur was born on September 24, 1885 in Revel (Tallinn).
There he studied piano with Carl van Arck, Prof. V. Tolstov and I. Borovka. His composition teacher was Nicolai Soloviev and he studied music theory with Alexander Lyadov, Alexander Glazunov and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
Artur's 1905 opera Sabina was the first opera composed by an Estonian. His Symphony No. 1 in 1908 was the first symphony composed by an Estonian. Lemba was a finalist in the prestigious Anton Rubinstein Competition and later a professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.
In 1899, following in his brother's footsteps, he enrolled at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. At his graduation ceremony, Lemba performed his Piano Concerto No. 1. In 1910, Artur Lemba participated in the Anton Rubinstein Competition for pianists, where he placed among the eight finalists, including Arthur Rubinstein and Edwin Fischer.
In 1915 he became a professor. He taught and gave concerts in Saint Petersburg until 1920. Notable students included Elsa Avesson, Olav Roots, Villem Reimann, Veera Lensin, Kirill Raudsepp and others.
In addition to the concerts in Estonia, Lemba performed in Saint Petersburg, Riga, Moscow, Odessa, Budapest, Helsinki and Stockholm.