Ignatz Waghalter was a Polish-German composer and conductor. Waghalter was born into a poor but musically-accomplished Jewish family in Warsaw. His eldest brother, Henryk Waghalter (1869-1961), became a renowned cellist at the Warsaw Conservatory. Wladyslaw (1885-1940), the youngest Waghalter brother, became a noted violinist. Ignatz Waghalter made his way to Berlin at the age of 17 where he first studied with Philipp Scharwenka.