Michelis (Moišė) Hofmekleris

Moishe Hofmekler (born 1898 in Vilnius, died 1965 in Munich, Germany) was a violin virtuoso. He studied under Ilya Malkin at the Vilnius Music School, who was also a teacher of the celebrated Jascha Heifetz. After Polish occupation of Vilnius, the family moved to Kaunas where Moishe graduated from the Conservatoire. 1920 – 1941 he was the leader of Hofmekler Brothers Ensemble and Metropolis’ orchestra. For his achievements he was decorated with order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (1932). Leiba Hofmekler was a pianist, concertmaster and conductor. Daniel Hofmekler played cello. Moishe Hofmekler and the collectives under his leadership earned the reputation of the most professional and reputable instrumentalists of variety (estrade) music in Kaunas. The respectable Metropolis became their stage. In the 1920s, M. Hofmekler often appeared with brothers as a trio, quartet and quintet. Later on up to the late 1950s the most famous was his Metropolis orchestra, dubbed as Hofmeklerband. During the day and lunch time the restaurant guests enjoyed classical music, while the evenings were devoted to light genres: the orchestra accompanied Antanas Šabaniauskas, Daniel Dolski, Antanas Dvarionas, Stepas Graužinis, Jonas Byra and his quartet, as well as touring guests. During the WWII Moishe Hofmekler was imprisoned in Kaunas Ghetto and Dachau concentration camp in Germany. While in Kaunas Ghetto he (together with Daniel Pomerantz) formed 40 musicians’ orchestra, organised concerts. After the war he lived in Israel until 1955, performed in Jerusalem Radio, led King David hotel orchestra.