Arkatov (James) collection

Jim Arkatov has had distinguished careers as a musician and photographer. He was born in Odessa, Russia and left with his family at an early age for San Francisco, where he developed as a child prodigy and gave his debut cello recital at age 14. At age 18, he was invited by Fritz Feiner to join the Pittsburgh Symphony. Later, he joined the San Francisco Symphony with Pierre Monteux, and went on to be principal cellist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra under Fabien Sevitzky. Arkatov returned to California in 1946 as a freelance musician in major studios of Hollywood and was later appointed principal cellist of the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Continuing his solo activities, he appeared in the Monday Evening Concert Series. In 1956, he married Salome Ramras, and they performed a piano-cello duo, performing in concerts throughout California. In 1968, he founded the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and was its first principal cellist. He had begun his photographic career when he was with the Pittsburgh Symphony. In 1990, these photographs became the basis of his first book, "Masters of Music." In 1998, he published his second book, "Artists: The Creative Personality." He has permanent and rotating exhibits of his photographs at the Colburn School of Music, the Cedar-Sinai Hospital and the Doheny Library of the University of Southern California.