Before emigrating to the United States in 1923, Koutzen studied with Reinhold Glière at the Moscow Conservatoire (1918–22) and was a violinist with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. In the United States he joined the Philadelphia Orchestra (1922–27) and became head of the violin department of the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music in 1930. He later played in the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Toscanini (1937–45) and taught at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York (1944–66).
Koutzen composed a Symphonic...