Moishe Koussevitzky was born on June 9th 1899 at Smargon in Vilna, Lithuania and came from a background of Chazanut. Moshe was the oldest of the four brothers, with Jacob, Simcha and David and, as is well-known, they all went on to become famous Chazanim in their own right.

Moshe began his career at the age of eight as an alto in the choir of Chazan Shlepak and as he grew up he toyed with the idea of becoming an artist or a sculptor. Fortunately, however, he accepted a position as Chazan at the Vilna ‘Savel’s Shul’ and in 1927 he auditioned for the plum position