Itzhak Perlman

Recognised by many as the most popular violinist of the past several decades, Tel Aviv-born virtuoso Itzhak Perlman is acclaimed by audiences and critics around the world for his exuberant style and winning personality, not least for the admirable way he overcame the effects of childhood polio; paralysis of his legs meant that he has needed braces and crutches throughout his life. His recordings of major classical works and movie scores have been bestsellers and he has won 17 Grammy Awards including one for Lifetime Achievement. He has received honours from American presidents and he performed at the White House when George W. Bush hosted Queen Elizabeth II at a state dinner in 2007. He continues to perform with a long list of concerts in 2017 and dates for 2018 in many North American cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Toronto and San Francisco with a performance in the Royal Festival Hall in London.

Born in Tel Aviv of Polish heritage he taught himself to play violin as a child and went on to study at the Shulamit Conservatory and the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv and gave his first recital at the age of ten. When he was 13 he appeared on Ed Sullivan's 'Caravan of Stars' television show and his family moved to New York where he studied at the Juilliard School of Music. His American debut came with a recital at Carnegie Hall in 1963 and he won the Leventritt Competition for classical piano and violin in New York. As a result, he played with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein and went on to play concerts across America, Europe and Asia. Since then he has played with all the top orchestras in the major concert halls around the world and also worked as a conductor of the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic and the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Montreal and Toronto.

Principal guest conductor of the Detroit Symphony from 2001 to 2005, he was also music advisor and frequent conductor of the St. Louis Symphony from 2002 to 2004. Long associated with the Israel Philharmonic, he has performed with the orchestra in landmark concerts in Warsaw, Budapest, Moscow and Leningrad and in China and India. He has devoted a great deal of his time to teaching at the Perlman Music Program that he established and at Juilliard.

Among his vast number of recordings are the 'Schindler's List' (1994) which, with co-composer John Williams, topped Billboard's Classical Albums Chart. He has had 17 albums on the chart with top ten hits including 'Eternal Echoes: Songs and Dance for the Soul' (2012) with Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot and 'Schumann - Bach - Brahms' (2016) with Martha Argerich.