Leon Theremin

b 1896 – died 1993 in Moscow. He was an inventor of a number of musical instruments: the Terpistone, the Theremin Cello, and the Rhythmicon. He built many instruments specifically for composers, ensembles, or performers. In 1918, he invented the world's first electronic musical instrument. It was an instrument so different to those that had gone before that it had no strings, pipes, or keys. in fact, the player didn't even have to touch the instrument to play it. The trick was to have two condensators function as antennae so that pitch and loudness of the Etherophon were triggered by hand gestures. Theremin played his most famous invention to Lenin, in Paris, all over Germany, in England's Royal Albert Hall, and all over the US, including Carnegie Hall, where standing room was sold in the boxes for the first time ever. Later, when he established his 'studios', he would lead the ensembles he created, and coach new students in the art of the theremin.