Itzhak Perlman

Violin and Conductor

Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. President Reagan granted him a “Medal of Liberty” in 1986, and President Clinton awarded him the “National Medal of Arts” in December 2000. In December 2003, he received a Kennedy Center Honor celebrating his distinguished achievements. He proudly possesses four Emmy Awards and fifteen Grammy awards for his television appearances and recordings.

Highlights of his 2007-08 season include summer performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center and Saratoga Performing Arts Center and with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood; recitals throughout Europe and the United States including London, Paris, Brussels, Zurich, Boston and Los Angeles, and a tour of Japan where he will be heard both in recital and with orchestra. Mr. Perlman also appears with students from the Perlman Music Program in a three-concert series at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

In addition to his many orchestral and recital appearances throughout the world, Mr. Perlman performs as conductor with leading orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and the New York Philharmonic. He was Principal Guest Conductor of the Detroit Symphony from 2001 to 2005 and was Music Advisor of the St. Louis Symphony from 2002 to 2004. This season he conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony and Toronto Symphony.

Mr. Perlman devotes considerable time to education, both in his participation each summer in the Perlman Music Program and his teaching at the Juilliard School, where he holds the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation Chair. He was awarded an honorary doctorate and a centennial medal on the occasion of Juilliard’s 100^th commencement ceremony in May 2005.