27 Facts About Ivry Gitlis

Ivry Gitlis was an Israeli virtuoso violinist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

Ivry Gitlis performed with the world's top orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and Philadelphia Orchestra.

Yitzhak-Meir Gitlis was born on 25 August 1922 in Haifa, Israel to Jewish parents Asher and Hedva Gitlis, who emigrated in 1921 from Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine.

Ivry Gitlis acquired his first violin when he was five years old and started lessons under Mme Velikovsky together with his friend Zvi Zeitlin.

Ivry Gitlis then studied privately with Mira Ben-Ami, a pupil of Joseph Szigeti.

At 11, Ivry Gitlis entered the Conservatoire de Paris in the class of Jules Boucherit, and graduated in 1935.

Ivry Gitlis gave numerous concerts for the Allied soldiers and in war factories.

In those years Ivry Gitlis already ranked with the foremost young masters of his instrument in the world.

Ivry Gitlis started the study of the violin at the age of five.

Ivry Gitlis's debut was made shortly after that and he so impressed the noted virtuoso, Bronislaw Huberman, that he was sent to Paris to study.

Ivry Gitlis continued his studies with such noted virtuosi as Georges Enesco, Jacques Thibaud and Theodore Pashkus, after which we embarked on a European concert tour.

Ivry Gitlis has featured contemporary music on his program ranging from works of Bartok to Lennox Berkley, Ivor Walsworth and Hindemith, as well as continuing his programs of the music of the classics.

Ivry Gitlis's recording of Bartok's 2nd Violin Concerto and Solo Violin Sonata -Vox PL 9020- received the "Best Record of the Year" award from the New York Herald Tribune in 1955.

Ivry Gitlis gave a series of concerts under the cultural exchange program of the Soviet Union and Israel, starting in Vilnius.

In 1972, Ivry Gitlis founded the Festival de Vence, famous for its innovative programming.

Ivry Gitlis was the inspirer and organiser of the Saint Andre de Cubzac, Alfortville and Bonifacio Music Festivals.

Ivry Gitlis often visited Japan, where he was very popular.

Ivry Gitlis's stated aim was the "support of education and culture of peace and tolerance".

Ivry Gitlis performed at the opening event of the International Bioethics Committee's 3rd session in 1995.

Ivry Gitlis was a commentator on the DVD The Art of Violin, which showcases violin performances and gives biographical details of many of the great violinists of the twentieth century.

Ivry Gitlis was a Fellow of the Royal Northern College of Music.

Ivry Gitlis was a distinguished guest of the International Master Course for violinists and string players at Keshet Eilon Music Center.

At various stages in his career, Ivry Gitlis played on a 1699 Giovanni Battista Rogeri, which he sold to famed violin author Sidney Bowden, the 1737 "Chant du Cygne" Antonio Stradivari, and the 1740 "Ysaye" Guarneri del Gesu.

Ivry Gitlis owned the 1713 "Sancy" Antonio Stradivari and a violin by Emile Marcel Francais, Paris 1944.

Ivry Gitlis was married from 1959 to 1960 to American director and writer Sandra Hochman; to French Actress France Lambiotte, with whom he had one child, Raphaelle; and until his death was married to German actress Sabine Glaser, mother of three of his four children, Nessie, David and Johnathan.

Since the end of the 1960s, Ivry Gitlis resided in Paris, France.

Ivry Gitlis died there on 24 December 2020 at the age of 98.