Koussevitzky (Serge) is born in Vishny-Volochok, Russia.

The son of musician parents, Serge Koussevitzky studies double bass at the School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, plays with the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, and marries Natalya Ushkov in 1905. He begins conducting in 1908, lives for a time in Berlin and Paris, comes to Boston in September 1924 to serve as conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and lives initially at 122 Pond Street. Credited with transforming the BSO into a world-class orchestra, Koussevitzky commissions more than 120 world premieres, champions 20th century composers, and establishes the Tanglewood Summer Music Festival in 1937* and Tanglewood Music School in 1940. The longest serving music director in BSO history (1924-1949*), he dies in Boston on June 4, 1951.