Athens, Ga. – The UGA Performing Arts Center brings one of the world’s most famous classical musicians to Athens Dec. 9 with a special performance by violinist Itzhak Perlman at 3 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall. Tickets are $69 to $99 and there are a limited number remaining for the recital.
Winner of sixteen Grammy Awards, Perlman is regarded as the reigning virtuoso of the violin, enjoying a status few classical musicians have achieved. He received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003 for his distinguished contributions to the cultural and educational life of our nation, and in 2008, he was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in the recording arts.
President Ronald Reagan honored Perlman with a Medal of Liberty in 1986, and in 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded him the National Medal of Arts. More recently, he was invited to perform at the 2009 Inauguration of President Barack Obama, premiering a piece written for the occasion by Oscar-winning composer John Williams.
Born in Israel in 1945, Perlman began his training at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. He came to New York and soon was propelled into the international arena with an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1958. Since then, Perlman has appeared with every major orchestra around the world.
A major presence in the performing arts on television, Perlman has been honored with four Emmy Awards, most recently for the PBS documentary Fiddling for the Future, a film about the Perlman Music Program and his work as a teacher and conductor. In 2004, PBS aired a special entitled Perlman in Shanghai, which chronicled the historic visit of the Perlman Music Program to China, featuring interaction between American and Chinese students and culminating in a concert at the Shanghai Grand Theater with a performance by 1000 young violinists. In March 2006, Perlman performed live on the 78th annual Academy Awards telecast.
Perlman has stated that one of his proudest achievements is his collaboration with film composer John Williams in Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning Schindler’s List, in which he performed the violin solos. Perlman can also be heard as the violin soloist on the soundtracks of Zhang Yimou’s film Hero and Rob Marshall’s Memoirs of a Geisha.
For his Athens recital, Perlman will be accompanied by his long-time collaborator, pianist Rohan De Silva.
Tickets can be purchased online at pac.uga.edu or by calling the Performing Arts Center box office at 706/542-4400 or toll free at 888/289-8497.
The performance underwriter is Athens Regional Health System.
