Nikolai Goldschmidt
b. November 8, 1900 Pärnud. April 15, 1964 Tallinn
Member of the Estonian Composers' Union from 1944–1951 and since 1953
Member of the Estonian Theatre since 1955
Buried in Tallinn Forest Cemetery
Conductor, composer and active figure in musical life Nikolai Goldschmidt studied in Petrograd army music school (1916–1918) and Tallinn Conservatoire (1920–1927) that he graduated in composition as a student of Artur Kapp.
He founded orchestras and choirs by Pärnu Workers’ Theatre (1926) and Tallinn Workers’ Theatre (1927), directed music performances also in Endla Theatre and Drama Theatre.
Nikolai Goldschmidt founded Tallinn Workers’ Music Society in 1927 and conducted its symphony and wind orchestra till 1940. He founded Estonian Song and Dance Ensemble (Eesti Laulu- ja Tantsuansambel, 1940), he was a chairman of the Joint Estonian Workers’ Music Union and Estonian Singers’ Union (1940–1941), he was one of the organisers of Estonian State Art Ensembles and was a director of its jazz ensemble (1942–1944). He was a director of Estonian Music Foundation (1945) and artistic director of Estonian SSR State Philharmony (1946–1950). After he was freed from Soviet repression in 1953, he worked as a director of music and literature in theatre „Estonia“ till the end of his life.
He has written vocal-symphonic works, instrumental chamber music, solo and choral songs and incidental music for theatre.
He has been ascribed the honorary title of Merited Cultural Figure of the Estonian SSR (1963), Order of Merit of the Estonian Red Cross and Order of the White Lion of Czechoslovakia.