Mikhail Misha Galaganov

Division Chair of Strings,
Professor of Viola
Music
Ed Landreth Hall 124

m.galaganov@tcu.edu | 817-257-6619

Education

DMA in Viola Performance - Rice University, Houston, TX

MM in Viola Performance - Rice University, Houston, TX

Artist Certificate in Viola Performance - SMU, Dallas, TX

BM in Viola Performance - Academy of Music and Dance, Jerusalem, Israel

Violin Performance and Teaching Certification - Min Vody Music College, Russia

Courses Taught

Viola
Chamber Music
New Music Ensemble
Violin
String Performance Pedagogy

Areas of Focus

Audition and competition preparation
New Music repertoire, including commissioning and promoting pieces by underrepresented composers
Technique, including studies of various exercises, caprices, etudes, and scales, and musicality
Viola and violin concert repertoire
Chamber Music

Dr. Mikhail ‘Misha’ Galaganov is a Professor of Viola and the Chair of Strings at Texas Christian University (TCU). As a soloist and chamber musician he has premiered more than thirty compositions for viola alone, viola with piano, and viola in chamber music, written for him by composers from Israel, Russia, Mexico, Peru, Belgium, Italy, Uruguay, and the USA. He also premiered his own arrangement of the 12 Fantasies for Bass Viol by Georg Philipp Telemann on viola – the first live performance of all Bass Viola Fantasies on viola in one concert! (A commercial album recording of the pieces is now available from PARMA at https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6692/#listen.) As Principal Viola of the Dallas Chamber Symphony, Galaganov has premiered several pieces written for a small symphony orchestra and for string chamber ensembles.

Galaganov is the founder of numerous chamber music programs. He coordinates New Music Ensemble (NME) program at TCU and is the founder of the “NME at the Modern Arts Museum” concert series.

Teaching duties have taken Galaganov to major conservatories around the world, and, most recently, he taught all graduate viola students at the University of Texas (UT) in Austin – stepping in for Roger Myers in the second half of the spring semester 2024.

Galaganov has taught and performed in numerous European and American Festivals. His former viola and violin students can be found as principal players in orchestras, university teachers, soloists and chamber music performers.

In addition to teaching and performing, Galaganov has written articles and reviews for Strad magazine, has served as a reviewer for American String Teachers Association magazine, and has given lectures and presentations at professional conferences. He is working on several research projects and has made transcriptions and arrangements. His last album, Charm, Passion, and Acrobatics was received with enthusiastic critical acclaim.

Galaganov has a violin performance degree from Russia; BM in Viola Performance from Israel; and Artist Certificate, MM, and DMA degrees from the USA. His teachers include Pavel Galaganov (his father), Mikhail Kugel, Barbara Sudweeks, Martha Katz, and Wayne Brooks. Galaganov plays on an old unique French viola by Mansuy a Paris with gut strings by Damian Dlugolecki.

Solo and chamber music performances around the world

WORLD PREMIERE of all Telemann’s Fantasies for Bass Viol on Viola in a live recital: September 2023

Master classes and lectures in major universities around the world

International festivals

Articles and reviews in STRAD and in other string publications

Transcriptions for viola of music by Paganini, Tartini, and Telemann

Presentations at American Viola Society festivals

Video series on best viola etudes, and others

Sheet Music Transcription of Telemann Fantasies for Bass Viol for Viola – Bärenreiter Verlag (scheduled for 2025)

SOUND ALBUM: Viola Fantasies – Georg Philipp Telemann Fantasies for Bass Viol (1735), First Recording on Viola (https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6692/#listen)

Book review: Bach Six Suites for Violoncello solo (BWV1007–12) arranged for viola solo: STRAD, April 2024

FEATURED ARTICLE: Telemann’s Viol Fantaisies on the viola: STRAD, November 2023

SOUND ALBUM: Charm, Passion, and Acrobatics: music for viola and piano by Chausson, Inghelbreght, and Kinc (https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6434/)

FEATURED ARTICLE: Yuri Kramarov: A legacy regained: STRAD, September 2022

TECHIQUE ARTICLE: Trills and embellishments: How to develop finger strength and control for even, well-articulated ornaments: STRAD, October 2021

TECHNIQUE ARTICLE: A 30-minute routine to keep your playing on top form: STRAD, February 2020

Sonata Devil Trills by Tartini, arranged for viola with 2nd viola accompaniment from the original publication for violin and cello: IMSLP

Sonata for Viola and Piano by Pierre Kunc, co-editor: IMSLP

SOUND ALBUM: A Musical Celebration: Trio Con Brio performing music by Ewazen and Sokolovsky

SOUND ALBUM: Chiaroscuro: music by Richard Lavenda

American Viola Society

Chamber Music Society

Music College Society

Chamber Music America

American String Teachers Association

Yearly plans (minimal requirements)

translated and adapted for use in American universities:

Please note that these plans are just guidelines, and each student is assigned programs most suitable for each individual.

1^st Year

1-2 works of large forms (including a classical sonata)
2-3 pieces of various characters
10-12 etudes

2^nd Year

Polyphonic compositions, including movements from Fantasies by Telemann
2 works of large forms (including a classical concerto)
3 – 4 pieces
10 – 12 etudes

3^rd Year

2 – 3 movements from suites for cello solo by J. S. Bach; other polyphonic compositions
2 large-form works, such as concertos or sonatas
4 – 5 pieces
8 – 10 etudes

4^th Year

2 or more movements from suites or sonatas/partitas by J. S. Bach; other polyphonic compositions
Large-form works
3 – 4 pieces
6 – 8 etudes

Scale Requirements

1^st Year

6 – 8 of simplest three-octave major and minor scales
Arpeggios in all forms
Double stops

2^nd Year

8 – 10 three-octave major and minor scales
Chromatic scales with two types of fingerings: sliding and alternating
Arpeggios
Double Stops

3^rd Year

All three-octave major and minor scales
Chromatic scales in moderately fast tempi
Arpeggios
Double Stops, four notes to a bow in moderate tempo

4^th Year

All three-octave scales
Chromatic scales in fast tempi
Arpeggios
Double Stops in relatively fast tempi
Harmonics natural and artificial in 4^th

Examination Requirements

At the end of the 2^nd semester, a student has to perform:

2 etudes on various types of technique
Concerto (1^st movement or 2^nd and 3^rd movements) or Sonata

Sample examination programs

Kreutzer Etude 8

Campagnoli Etude 12

Eccles Sonata

Kreutzer Etude 21

Campagnoli Etude 1

Vivaldi Sonata in G minor

III

Dont Etude 14

Palaschko Etude Op. 77, No. 5

Haydn Concerto in G major, 1^st movement

Campagnoli Etude No. 9

Palaschko Etude Op. 77, No. 5

Telemann Concerto

At the end of the 4th semester, a student has to perform:

2 etudes on various types of technique
Concerto (1st movement or 2nd and 3rd movements) or Sonata

Sample examination programs

Kreutzer Etude 10

Palaschko Etude Op. 77, No. 11

Handel Sonata No. 3

Kreutzer Etude 12

Campagnoli Etude 15

Khandoshkin Concerto or Hoffmeister Concerto or similar

III

Campagnoli Etude 3

Palaschko Etude Op. 77, No. 14

Alexey Verstovsky (1799–1862) Variations on Two Themes (Вариации на две темы) for viola and piano; transcription by Borisovsky; or Stamitz concerto

Terian Etude No. 5

Fiorillo Etude 13

Handel Concerto, 1^st and 2^nd movements or J. S. Bach Concerto 1^st and 2^nd movements, or similar

At the end of the 6th semester, a student has to perform:

1-2 movements from suites for cello solo by Bach
2 etudes on various types of technique
Concerto (1st movement or 2nd and 3rd movements) or Sonata

Sample examination programs at the end of the 3^rd year

Bach Allemande and Minuet from Suite 1

Kreutzer Etude 34

Campagnoli Etude 15

Bach, F. E. Sonata

Bach Allemande from Suite 2

Campagnoli Etude 24

Rode Caprice 3

Dittersdorf Concerto

III

Bach Sarabande and Gigue from Suite 1

Vieuxtemps Etude

Palaschko Etude Op. 77, No. 22

Forsyth Concerto

Bach Sarabande and Bourrée from Suite 3

Terian Op. 1, Etude No. 1

Campagnoli Etude 35

Zelter Concerto

On the final graduation examination [at the end of the 8^th semester], a student has to perform:

1 – 2 movements from suites, partitas, or sonatas by J. S. Bach
Concerto (1^st movement or 2^nd and 3^rd movements) or sonata
Pieces of various characters

Sample Programs of Graduation Examination

Bach, J. S. Sarabande and Bourrée from Suite in C major

Bach, J. C Concerto

Tchaikovsky Nocturne

Kirkor, Georg: Rondo [Rondo for viola and piano, op. 18 no. 2]

Bach Prelude from Suite in D minor

Vivaldi Concerto (arr. by Borisovsky)

Glinka Barcarolle [in G major]

Sulkhan Tsintsadze: Khorumi (1948)

III

Bach, J. S. Prelude from Suite in C major

Frid, Grigori: Concerto, 1^st and 2^nd movements

Sergei Rachmaninoff Vocalise for viola and piano, Op.34, #.14

Christian Sinding: Presto [from Suite Op. 10, transcribed for viola and piano]

Bach Allemande and Sarabande from Partita 2

Stamitz Concerto in D major

Victor Kovalev: Poem for viola and piano, (or Bartok or Hindemith or Walton Viola concerto), 1^st movement

Rimsky-Korsakov The Flight of the Bumblebee