 After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory in 1897, Koenemann moved for two years to Astrakhan where he was appointed as a director and a piano teacher of the Astrakhan Music Classes.He also organized in Astrakhan the city chorus and the symphony orchestra, finding musicians among the music teachers, students and the military bands.In 1899 he was called back to Moscow to become a piano teacher at the Moscow Conservatory, and from 1899 to 1901 he was also a conductor of the Russian Choral Society in Moscow.