 Ramba uchinyora ndima iyi - Akazvarwa muna 1884 mumhuri yechiJudha muIrkutsk, Russia, Gershkovitch akakura achiteerera mimhanzi yemakamuri uye akatumirwa kuSaint Petersburg achiri mumakore ake okupedzisira okuyaruka kunodzidza paImperial Conservatory. Gershkovitch akasvika aine maruble 17 muhomwe yake nefiriti yake pasi poruoko rwake; akaita audition uye akapiwa bhezari. PaConservatory, akadzidza kubva kuvanyori vanoremekedzwa veRussia vakaita saAlexander Glazunov, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov naNikolai Tcherepnin, uye akapedza kosi yekugadzira opera uye ballet. Muna 1913, akapedza zvidzidzo zvake achiridza nyere uye achitungamirira, uye akapihwa Schubert Scholarship kwegore rekudzidza pasi pemutungamiriri wechiGerman Arthur Nikisch muBerlin. Zvisinei, Hondo Yenyika I yakamanikidza Gershkovitch kudzokera kuIrkutsk uye kunyoresa muchiuto. Gershkovitch akatanga basa rake rokutungamirira semutungamiriri weuto reRussia Imperial Armys military symphony orchestra, chinzvimbo chaakabata kuburikidza neshanduko ya1917. Muna 1918, Gershkovitch akaroora muIrkutsk uye akatanga kubudirira kwehunyanzvi hwekuchengetedza uye symphony orchestra, iyo yakaenderera mberi pasi pehutongi hweBolshevik. Gershkovitch nomudzimai wake vakabva kuRussia muna 1921 vachienda kuChina, kwavakaita ushamwari nomunyori wenziyo Aaron Avshalomov. Ballerina Anna Pavlova akapa Gershkovitch chinzvimbo chomubetseri womutungamiriri weorchestra yake, iyo yakanga ichifamba muOrient yose. Gershkovitch akagara muTokyo kuti atungamirire Tokyo Symphony Orchestra yakanga ichangobva kurongwa kusvikira kudengenyeka kukuru kweKantōra1923 rakakanganisa mabhizimisi ose nemimhanzi zveguta racho. Vaviri vacho vakatiza muJapan ndokusvika muSan Francisco muna November 1923. Pakupedzisira vakazoenda kuPortland muna 1924; ndipo apo Gershkovitch akasvikwa naDodge kuti atungamirire Portland Junior Symphony. Gershkovitch akadzidzisa nyere uye akatungamira orchestra yevadzidzi veEllison-White Conservatory, panguva iyoyo yaitungamirirwa naJacob Avshalomov, kusvikira mabasa ake matsva ePJS achida kutarisisa kwake kwakazara. 