The two most numerous musical families in the U.S. are the Fishberg-Glantzes and the Borodkin-Gusikoffs. Spread from Hollywood to Manhattan, with relatives in half the major symphony orchestras of the U.S., these two strains of musicians could each constitute a sizable orchestra. Collectively, they constitute one of the most impressive genealogical phenomena ever studied outside of Boston.
The simple statistics are arresting. Among the Fishbergs and Glantzes there are in the U.S. (and Russia has more): ten violinists, eight trumpeters, three pianists, two flutists, two clarinetists, two saxophonists, two drummers and one double bassist. Among the Borodkins and Gusikoffs there are five cellists, two violinists, four trumpeters, two drummers, one violist, one pianist, one clarinetist and one trombonist. The total amounts to some 47 orchestra players, includes twelve violinists, twelve trumpet players. Among the most prominent are Mischa Mischakoff (real name Fishberg), concertmaster of the NBC Symphony; Harry Glantz, first trumpet of the NBC Symphony; Sidney Baker (a Fishberg), first trumpet of the Chicago Symphony;* Charles Gusikoff, first trombone of the Philadelphia Orchestra; Saul Caston (a Gusikoff), assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Isaac, the Patriarch. The Gusikoffs are an old Moscow family tracing themselves with pride to Michael Gusikoff (1806-37), great pioneer virtuoso on the xylophone. The Borodkins are from Minsk and have known, and intermarried with, the Gusikoffs only since both arrived in the U.S. The Fishbergs and Glantzes, however, knew one another intimately in the Ukranian town of Proskurov where Pincas Glantz and Isaac Fishberg played in the local band under the Czars. The patriarch Isaac Fishberg, 94, is still as spry as a Bessarabian goat. He lives with his grey-haired wife Fannie in a little three-room apartment in Brooklyn. Isaac is a flutist. Last week Isaac conducted the Fishberg family's Passover services with true patriarchal dignity. Fishbergs from Manhattan and The Bronx, with their wives and children, put away their fiddles and trombones to visit him in Brooklyn. Vigorous, blue-eyed Isaac, his grey, cropped hair covered with a black skullcap, looked them over sharply. Isaac (by a previous wife) had begotten so many children he could hardly keep track of them. Of a total of 16, ten—Arriga, Theodore, Jascha, William, Mischa, Pearl, Lisa, Bessie, Rebecca and Fishel—were in the U.S. Ten grandchildren were either professional musicians or on the way to that calling. Isaac's favorite son is Mischa Mischakoff, who earns about $25,000 a year.
Pink-cheeked Isaac Fishberg speaks only Yiddish and is a man of great spirit. In spite of his age, he gets up at 4 o'clock every morning to visit the synagogue, does the family marketing himself on the way home. He is infuriated if anyone suggests that his health is delicate. He has high blood pressure, but claims to enjoy it. He views most of his in-laws with tolerance, but would not live with any of his descendants for a prophet's ransom.