Boguslawski was born in Chicago in 1887 to a
Ukrainian Jewish family with significant musical background. His parents, Afram "Frank" Boguslawski and Anna Nemkovsky, emigrated in the 1880s. His father was a music teacher, flutist and orchestra leader from
Poltava who served in the
Tsar's army during the
Russo-Turkish War (1877–78). His cousin Sol Nemkovsky was a noted violinist. Despite the family's poverty, Boguslawski began piano lessons at age 4 and began playing in public at weddings at the age of 10. By age 15, he was performing at a dance hall in Chicago. He also studied briefly with
Rudolph Ganz. Boguslawski was named head of the piano department at the
Kansas City Conservatory of Music when he was 20 years old. Recitals given during this time established him as a well-known pianist, and in 1916 a trip to the East Coast earned him good reviews in New York and Boston. Soon he was a sought-after performer both in concert and as a recorded radio performer. He performed with various orchestras and performers, including
Emma Calvé and
Antonio Scotti. He was a professor of piano at
Chicago Musical College and at the
Bush Conservatory of Music; later he was head of the Boguslawski College of Music., ==References==