Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Whither the Jewish Violinist?

Crossposted from Haaretz

Pinchas Zuckerman, Itzhak Perlman and Shlomo Mintz are more than just great Israeli violinists. They are also symbols — proof that the legendary Russian-Jewish tradition has continued in Israel.

This tradition — which produced virtuosos such as Jascha Heifetz, Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern — has brought the world great Jewish musicians on other string instruments as well. Consider Emanuel Feuermann, Gregor Piatigorsky, Mischa Maisky and Janos Starker on cello; and Efrem Zimbalist on viola. It seems so natural that this tradition would be deeply embedded in Israel, and that the indefinable Jewish spirit would continue to produce string players of extraordinary genius.

A look at music education in Israel, however, seems to indicate that the Jewish spirit is not enough. A broad and generous educational foundation is necessary to develop great musicians — especially those who play demanding instruments such as string instruments. In this respect, Israel seems to be going from bad to worse; educators here are concerned that the art of string instruments is in danger of extinction.

Read more at Haaretz.com

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.