Pinchas Zukerman

Appointed Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra in 1998, Pinchas Zukerman is the fifth conductor to lead the 46-member, classical-sized ensemble, which was founded in 1969 as the resident orchestra of the newly opened National Arts Centre. Mr. Zukerman is deeply committed to enriching the Orchestra’s cultural involvement within the region, and since his appointment has taken an interest in virtually every aspect of Ottawa’s artistic community. He has made five recordings with the Orchestra, introduced a new Acoustic Control System to the NAC's Southam Hall, been involved in a number of national radio and television broadcasts and initiated the NAC Young Artists Programme as part of the summer's Great Composers Festival. The Conductors’ Programme, launched in 2001, provides a valuable opportunity for conductors to develop under the expert guidance of accomplished orchestra leaders. The Zukerman Musical Instrument Fund works to acquire donated and new instruments for orchestral musicians. Since the arrival of Pinchas Zukerman, the National Arts Centre Orchestra has regained its commitment to regular touring both nationally and internationally. He led enormously successful Canadian tours in 1999, 2002, 2004 and 2005, as well as critically acclaimed tours to the Middle East and Europe in 2000 and the United States and Mexico in 2003, all highlighted by hundreds of unprecedented outreach activities with an innovative internet component.

In addition to his position with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Mr. Zukerman chairs the Pinchas Zukerman Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music. To maintain close relationships with his students while fulfilling the travel demands of his concert engagements, Mr. Zukerman has pioneered the use of distance-learning technology in the arts. Through the use of the school's videoconferencing system, his students are able to receive regular string instruction.

Currently in his eighth season as Music Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Mr. Zukerman leads the ensemble’s Quebec tour in fall 2006, featuring numerous educational events. Also during the 2006-2007 season, Mr. Zukerman conducts the Pittsburgh, Seattle and Madison Symphonies and Rochester Philharmonic, and appears as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago, Indianapolis and Phoenix Symphonies. Overseas engagements include the 70th anniversary of the Israel Philharmonic, as well as the orchestras of Sofia, Bucharest and Valencia, Spain. Recitals with longtime collaborator Marc Neikrug take place this season in the United States, Spain, Italy, Germany and Sweden.

Pinchas Zukerman performs regularly with the world’s finest orchestras and has held numerous artistic positions. From 1980 to 1987, he was Music Director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and became instrumental in bringing that ensemble to international prominence. He also served as Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Summer MusicFest for three years, London’s South Bank Festival for three years and the Dallas Symphony’s International Summer Music Festival for three years. Mr. Zukerman was Principal Guest Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for two years.

A frequent chamber music performer, Pinchas Zukerman has appeared regularly with such luminaries of the music world as Daniel Barenboim, Vladmir Ashkenazy, Itzhak Perlman, the Orion and Tokyo String Quartets, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Ralph Kirshbaum, Yefim Bronfman, Lynn Harrell, Marc Neikrug and the late Jacqueline du Pré. Each summer, he performs at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, where he also participates in educational outreach activities within the community. Mr. Zukerman appears in April 2007 with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio at Carnegie Hall and Princeton’s McCarter Theatre, in celebration of that ensemble’s 30th anniversary season. He recently formed the Zukerman ChamberPlayers, an ensemble which has performed for the past four seasons at such prestigious overseas venues as the BBC Proms, Concertgebouw, Tivoli, Schleswig-Holstein, Verbier, Harrogate and Tuscan Sun Music Festivals. In North America, the group has garnered critical acclaim for concerts at the Ravinia, Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals and at Parry Sound and Domaine Forget in Canada. This season the group brings its artistry for the first time to New York in a three-concert series with guest artists at the 92nd Street Y, in addition to its Kennedy Center debut and concerts in Philadelphia, Seattle and Calgary. The Zukerman ChamberPlayers’ debut recording for CBC Records, Mozart-Zukerman, was nominated for a 2004 Juno Award in the “Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble” category. A second disc featuring string quintets of Brahms and Mozart was released on Altara in spring 2006, with two additional recordings on that same label due out this season.

Pinchas Zukerman's extensive discography contains over 100 titles, and has earned him 21 Grammy nominations and two awards: "Best Chamber Music Performance" in 1980 and "Best Classical Performance, Instrumental Soloist With Orchestra" in 1981. Mr. Zukerman’s first recording as Music Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra was a 1999 CBC Records release of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons in which he is featured as conductor and violinist. An earlier recording of three Haydn works on BMG Classics, which he made as guest conductor of the Orchestra in 1993, was re-released in 1998 in honor of his appointment. In 2000, CBC Records released Mr. Zukerman's first-ever recording of Beethoven Symphonies - Nos. 1 and 2 - along with the Romance No. 2 in F Major, followed by discs of Schubert works in 2002 and Mozart in 2003. Prior releases on BMG Classics/RCA Victor Red Seal include the complete violin/piano and viola/piano repertoire of Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart and Schumann with pianist Marc Neikrug. Earlier recordings are also available on the Angel, CBS, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, London and Philips labels.

Pinchas Zukerman has been featured in numerous television specials and national talk shows. He appeared with the Chicago Symphony on the PBS special Mozart by the Masters and has been a performer and presenter at the Grammy Awards ceremony. He has been a frequent performer on Live from Lincoln Center and has collaborated with the English filmmaker Christopher Nupen on several projects including the Here to Make Music series, a Brahms series, a Schubert series and a documentary on Nathan Milstein. He appeared on PBS’s Charlie Rose Show and on CBC Television's nationwide broadcast celebrating the opening concerts of the National Arts Centre’s 30th-anniversary season. Crossing Bridges, a documentary by Niv Fichman, followed his tour to the Middle East with the Orchestra, and was awarded the prestigious Gold World Medal at the 2001 New York Festivals. Mr. Zukerman's violin playing can be heard on the film soundtracks for Prince of Tides and Critical Care.

Born in Tel Aviv in 1948, Pinchas Zukerman studied music with his father, first on the recorder and clarinet, and later on the violin. He soon began lessons with Ilona Feher and came to America in 1962 with the support of Isaac Stern, Pablo Casals and the America-Israel and Helena Rubenstein Foundations. He began his studies at The Juilliard School with Ivan Galamian and, in 1967, was named first-prize winner of the 25th Leventritt Competition. He holds an honorary doctorate from Brown University and an Achievement Award from the International Center in New York. He was presented with the King Solomon Award by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and, in 1983, President Reagan awarded him the Medal of Arts for his leadership in the musical world. In 2002 he became the first recipient of the Isaac Stern Award for Artistic Excellence at the National Arts Awards Gala in New York City, and in May 2006 was appointed as the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative’s first instrumentalist mentor in the music discipline. Pinchas Zukerman is married to cellist Amanda Forsyth and is father to two daughters, Arianna and Natalia.

"Youth sticks with some people… Zukerman seems the forever-young virtuoso: expressively resourceful, infectiously musical, technically impeccable, effortless. As usual, it was a joy to be in his musical company." — The Los Angeles Times