27 Facts About Itzhak Perlman

Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-American violinist widely considered one of the greatest violinists in the world.

Itzhak Perlman has conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Westchester Philharmonic.

Itzhak Perlman has won 16 Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and four Emmy Awards.

Itzhak Perlman contracted polio at age four and has walked using leg braces and crutches since then and plays the violin while seated.

Itzhak Perlman first became interested in the violin after hearing a classical music performance on the radio.

Itzhak Perlman instead taught himself how to play the instrument using a toy fiddle until he was old enough to study with Rivka Goldgart at the Shulamit Conservatory and at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, where he gave his first recital at age 10.

Itzhak Perlman moved to the US at age 13 to study at the Juilliard School with the violin teacher Ivan Galamian and his assistant Dorothy DeLay.

Itzhak Perlman gained national attention when he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show twice in 1958, and again in 1964, on the same show with the Rolling Stones.

Itzhak Perlman made his Carnegie Hall debut performing Wieniawski's Violin Concerto No 1 in 1963 and won the Leventritt Competition in 1964.

Itzhak Perlman had earlier sung the role in an excerpt from the opera on a 1980 Pension Fund Benefit Concert telecast as part of the Live from Lincoln Center series with Luciano Pavarotti as Cavaradossi and Zubin Mehta conducting the New York Philharmonic.

On July 5,1986, Itzhak Perlman performed at the New York Philharmonic's tribute to the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, which was televised live on ABC.

In 1987, Itzhak Perlman joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for its concerts in Warsaw and Budapest as well as other cities in Eastern bloc countries.

Itzhak Perlman toured with the IPO in the spring of 1990 for its first-ever performance in the Soviet Union, with concerts in Moscow and Leningrad, and again in 1994, performing in China and India.

In 2015, on a classical music program titled The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center produced by WQXR in New York City, it was revealed that Itzhak Perlman performed the uncredited violin solo on the 1989 Billy Joel song "The Downeaster Alexa".

Itzhak Perlman has been a soloist in a number of film scores, such as the theme of the 1993 film Schindler's List by John Williams, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Itzhak Perlman played selections from the musical scores of the movies nominated for "Best Original Score" at the 73rd Academy Awards with Ma and at the 78th Academy Awards.

Itzhak Perlman played at the state dinner attended by Queen Elizabeth II on May 7,2007, in the East Room at the White House.

Itzhak Perlman performed John Williams's "Air and Simple Gifts" at the 2009 inauguration ceremony for Barack Obama along with Ma, Gabriela Montero, and Anthony McGill.

Itzhak Perlman made an appearance in Disney's Fantasia 2000 to introduce the segment Pines of Rome, along with Steve Martin.

On November 2,2018, Itzhak Perlman reprised the 60th anniversary of his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show as a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

In 1975, Itzhak Perlman accepted a faculty post at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College.

Itzhak Perlman teaches students one-on-one at the Perlman Music Program on Long Island, NY, rarely holding master classes.

At the beginning of the new millennium, Itzhak Perlman began to conduct.

Itzhak Perlman took the post of principal guest conductor at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Itzhak Perlman served as music advisor to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2002 to 2004.

Itzhak Perlman is a distant cousin of the Canadian comic and television personality Howie Mandel.

Itzhak Perlman has synesthesia and was interviewed for Tasting the Universe by Maureen Seaberg, which is about the condition.