Pinchas Zukerman

Pinchas Zukerman ( _he. פנחס צוקרמן, born July 16, 1948) is a noted Israeli violinist, violist, and conductor who was appointed Music Director of Ottawa's National Arts Centre Orchestra in April 1998.

Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zukerman. He left for the United States and studied at the Juilliard School. He made his New York début in 1963. From 1980 to 1987 he was the director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in Minnesota.

He is close friends with Daniel Barenboim and Itzhak Perlman. He is currently married to the NAC Orchestra's principal cellist, Amanda Forsyth. He lives in the Rockcliffe Park area of Ottawa. He has two daughters, Arianna and Natalia, from his 15-year marriage to flautist and novelist Eugenia Zukerman. Both girls are vocalists; Arianna Zukerman is an opera singer, while Natalia Zukerman is a blues/folk musician. He was also formerly married to actress Tuesday Weld, from 1985 to 1998.

Zukerman has recorded over 100 works and has been nominated for 21 Grammy Awards, winning two.

During the 2005-2006 season, Zukerman performed in many concerts away from the NACO in Ottawa. He toured with Itzhak Perlman to Washington, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, and Chicago. He also conducted or was the solo violinist with the Indianapolis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Los Angeles, Singapore, and National Symphony Orchestras, the Israel, Seoul, and Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Berlin Staatskapelle. He toured Belgium and Germany with the Belgian National Orchestra, and have another recital tour with pianist Marc Neikrug with concerts in London, Paris, Moscow, Milan, Munich, and Birmingham. On October 20, 2006, Pinchas Zukerman and Amanda Forsyth performed with the Classic FM Orchestra in Sofia, Bulgaria.

With the Zukerman Chamber Players, Zukerman has performed over 40 concerts around the world and recorded two CDs since the ensemble's creation in 2003.

Zukerman is on the faculty at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music and is the head and founder of the Zukerman Performance Program at the school.

He plays the "Dushkin" Guarnerius del Gesù violin of 1742.

Awards and Recognitions

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:
*Itzhak Perlman & Pinchas Zukerman for "Music for Two Violins (Moszkowski: Suite For Two Violins/Shostakovich: Duets/Prokofiev: Sonata for Two Violins)" (1981)King Solomon Award

National Medal of Arts
*1983 Presented by President Ronald Reagan

Isaac Stern Award for Artistic Excellence

Recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence