Background
Sverjensky was born in Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire, in 1901.
Sverjensky was born in Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire, in 1901.
From age 14, he studied at the Petrograd Conservatory under Alexander Glazunov. (Some sources say he studied under Sergei Rachmaninoff or Alexander Siloti) He also studied law at Tomsk.
He started piano lessons at age 12. In 1922 he left Russia for China. He accompanied the soprano Lydia Lipkovska on a tour of China, Japan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand, and then appeared as a soloist in Europe.
He decided to settle permanently in Australia in 1925.
He appeared in many recitals and concerts throughout the 1920s and 1930s. He was the first person to play the music of Sergei Prokofiev in Australia, and also championed other Russian composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Alexander Scriabin, Nikolai Medtner, Mily Balakirev, Glazunov and Rachmaninoff.
He was naturalised a British subject in 1930. He first started appearing as a soloist with the American Broadcasting Company Sydney Orchestra (forerunner of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra) in 1933, and he founded his own chamber music trio in 1936.
He was the first pianist to play Rachmaninoff"s Piano Concerto Number.
3 in Doctorate minor with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, in 1941 under Percy Code. He retired from his teaching position in 1969. Alexander Sverjensky was married three times.
The National Library of Australia holds a collection of his programs and other papers.
