Pinchas Zukerman (; born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor.

Life and career

Zukerman was born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zukerman. He began his musical studies at age four, on the recorder. His father then taught him to play the

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

and then the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

at age eight. Early studies were at the Samuel Rubin Academy of Music (now the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music).

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

and Pablo Casals learned of Zukerman's violin talent during a 1962 visit to Israel. Later that year, Zukerman moved to the United States to study at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

under Stern and

Ivan Galamian Ivan Alexander Galamian (; April 14, 1981) was an Armenian-American violin teacher of the twentieth century who was the violin teacher of many seminal violin players including Itzhak Perlman and Kyung Wha Chung. Biography Galamian was born in ...

. He made his New York City performance debut in 1963. In 1967, he shared the Leventritt Prize with Korean violinist Kyung-wha Chung. His 1969 debut recordings—of the concerti by Tchaikovsky (with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antal Dorati) and Mendelssohn (with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein)—launched a successful recording career of over 110 releases. Zukerman launched his conducting career in 1970 with the

English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. With a limited performance size, the orchestra spe ...

, and served as director of London's South Bank Festival from 1971 to 1974. In the US, Zukerman was music director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra from 1980 to 1987. He later directed the summer festivals of the

Dallas Symphony Orchestra The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District, Dallas, Arts District of downtown Dallas. History The orchestra tr ...

(1991–95) and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (1996–99). In 1999, he became Music Director of Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, stepping down from the post in 2015. He has served as Principal Guest Conductor of the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

since 2009. Zukerman is on the faculty at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

and is the leader and founder of the Zukerman Performance Program at the school. His former students include Koh Gabriel Kameda, Julian Rachlin, and Guy Braunstein. In 1999 he founded the National Arts Centre Young Artists Programme, which counts young musicians such as Viviane Hagner, Jessica Linnebach, and Antal Szalai as alumni. In 2006 Zukerman began his involvement in the Rolex Artistic Mentorship programme. Zukerman plays the "Dushkin" Guarneri del Gesù violin of 1742. His honors include the King Solomon Award, the

National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...

(presented by President Reagan in 1983), the Isaac Stern Award for Artistic Excellence, and an honorary doctorate from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Personal life

Zukerman married Eugenia Rich in 1968. The couple had two daughters together, opera singer Arianna Zukerman and blues and folk musician Natalia Zukerman. Zukerman and Eugenia frequently performed together until their separation in 1983. Zukerman was married to actress Tuesday Weld from 1985 to 2001. He and Weld owned homes in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

and Montauk, New York, which they bought after the murder-suicide of its previous owners, soap opera actress Gwyda Donhowe and Broadway producer Norman Kean. Zukerman and his third wife, cellist Amanda Forsyth, have been married since 2004 and primarily reside in Manhattan. They often perform together.

Recordings

His recordings have received 21 Grammy nominations, and two Grammy wins. He has collaborated with filmmaker Christopher Nupen on several projects, and was the subject of Nupen's "Pinchas Zukerman: Here to Make Music" documentary of 1974. In 2003 he founded a string quintet, the Zukerman Chamber Players, which has released three CD recordings in addition to its roster of live performances.

Discography

*2015: Brahms: Double concerto – Symphony No. 4 ( Analekta), AN2 8782 *2016: Baroque Treasury (Analekta), AN2 8783 *2016: Vaughan Williams &

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

–

( Decca)

References

Sources

*Boris Schwarz: ''Great Masters of the Violin. From Corelli and Vivaldi to Stern, Zukerman and Perlman''. Simon and Schuster, New York 1983. *Darryl Lyman: ''Great Jews in Music''. J. D. Publishers, Middle Village, NY 1986. *Stanley Sadie, H. Wiley Hitchcock (Ed.): ''The new Grove dictionary of American music''. Grove's Dictionaries of Music, New York, N.Y 1986. *Kurtz Myers: ''Index to record reviews 1984–1987''. G.K. Hall, Boston, Ma. 1989. *Alan Rich: ''Masters of Music: Great artists at work''. Preface by Nicolas Slonimsky, foreword by Isaac Stern, photographs by James Arkatov. Capra Press, Santa Barbara, Ca. 1990.

External links

* * *
Profile
at New York Philharmonic
Profile
at Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra {{DEFAULTSORT:Zukerman, Pinchas 1948 births Living people Israeli classical violinists Male classical violinists Israeli classical violists Israeli conductors (music) Jewish classical violinists Jewish American classical musicians Jewish Israeli musicians Manhattan School of Music faculty Leventritt Award winners Grammy Award winners Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music Juilliard School alumni Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Performing arts pages with videographic documentation 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American Jews Deutsche Grammophon artists Angel Records artists RCA Records artists Philips Records artists 21st-century American violinists