RUSSIAN EMIGRE FEELS AT HOME WITH MUSIC OF U.S.

Though born in Latvia and trained in Moscow, violinist Mischa Lefkowitz has proven no slouch at assimilating and promoting American music.

The 32-year-old violinist, who will give a free recital at 2 p.m. today at Golden West College, won third place in the 1983 American Music Competition at Carnegie Hall, where the emphasis is on performance of American music.

He played music by Douglas Moore, John Corigliano and George Rochberg, winning high praise from Rochberg for his interpretation of the composer’s “Caprice Variations for Unaccompanied Violin.”

“I do have a certain interest in American music,” Lefkowitz said in a recent interview. “I enjoy looking for fine works which are neglected and which are very rewarding.

“But it depends on the particular work. I don’t like to be considered (just) a 20th-Century repertory violinist.”

His program today will include works by Beethoven, Paganini, Bloch and Saint-Saens, among others. His instrument is a 1752 Carlo Festore.

Lefkowitz studied with the legendary Leonid Kogan in Moscow and also with Nathan Milstein, Mischa Mischakoff, Roman Totenberg and Henri Temianka.

He immigrated to Los Angeles with his parents in 1972. As a student, Lefkowitz said, he had not encountered artistic censorship. “But looking ahead and knowing the experience of older colleagues,” he said, “I would expect restrictions of artistic freedom--the ability to travel, to found groups, to choose repertory, to be in charge of artistic decisions and to be involved in the creative part--the interpretations--of music.

“This country gives opportunities; you just have to know how to take them.”

Lefkowitz said he hopes that recent invitations from the Bolshoi Ballet for defectors Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia Makarova to perform in the Soviet Union signals “a new policy, an attempt to warm up the relationship between the two countries. I would welcome this. But I don’t know about going back (myself).”

Since his arrival in Los Angeles, Lefkowitz has joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic, become concertmaster with the Los Angeles-based American Chamber Orchestra and toured the state as an artist on the roster of the California Arts Council touring program.

He also has recorded music from Mozart to Miklos Rozsa for Laurel, Sequence, Camia and Pantheon records. And in 1985 he was a prize winner at the Paris International Violin Competition.

In 1986, he started the 13-member Masterpiece Virtuosi String Chamber Ensemble. Yet he sees no conflict in pursuing solo and orchestral careers.

“I enjoy being a leader of an ensemble,” he said. “The chamber group allows me to realize repertory that I wouldn’t otherwise play. I see it as a good addition to my career, not a separate entity. It’s very inspiring for me.”