18 Facts About Isaac Stern

Isaac Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and performing extensively in Israel, a country to which he had close ties since shortly after its founding.

Isaac Stern received extensive recognition for his work, including winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom and six Grammy Awards, and being named to the French Legion of Honour.

Son of Solomon and Clara Stern, Isaac Stern was born in Kremenets, Poland, into a Jewish family.

Isaac Stern was 14 months old when his family moved to San Francisco in 1921.

Isaac Stern returned to the San Francisco Conservatory to study for five years with Naoum Blinder, to whom he said he owed the most.

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Isaac Stern then joined the United Service Organizations and performed for US troops.

Isaac Stern toured the Soviet Union in 1951, the first American violinist to do so.

In 1967, Isaac Stern stated his refusal to return to the USSR until the Soviet regime allowed artists to enter and leave the country freely.

Isaac Stern's only visit to Germany was in 1999, for a series of master classes, but he never performed publicly in Germany.

In 1940, Isaac Stern began performing with Russian-born pianist Alexander Zakin, collaborating until 1977.

Isaac Stern dubbed actors' violin-playing in several films, such as Fiddler on the Roof.

Isaac Stern served as musical advisor for the 1946 film, Humoresque, about a rising violin star and his patron, played respectively by John Garfield and Joan Crawford.

Isaac Stern was the featured violin soloist on the soundtrack for the 1971 film of Fiddler on the Roof.

Isaac Stern won Grammys for his work with Eugene Istomin and Leonard Rose in their famous chamber music trio in the 1960s and '70s, while continuing his duo work with Alexander Zakin during this time.

Isaac Stern recorded a series of piano quartets in the 1980s and 1990s with Emanuel Ax, Jaime Laredo and Yo-Yo Ma, including those of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Faure, winning another Grammy in 1992 for the Brahms quartets Opp.

Isaac Stern then stepped onto the stage and began playing a movement of Bach.

Isaac Stern was a supporter of several educational projects in Israel, among them the America-Israel Foundation and the Jerusalem Music Center.

Isaac Stern owned two contemporary instruments by Samuel Zygmuntowicz and modern Italian Jago Peternella Violins.