Itzhak Perlman in Philadelphia

Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-American classical violinist, born in Tel Aviv in 1945. He is known for his recordings of the violin concertos of Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky, and for performing the violin solos in John Williams’s score for Schindler’s List. Perlman made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1963 and returned there for recitals, orchestral concerts and gala performances. In 2009, he joined Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill to perform John Williams’s “Air and Simple Gifts” at the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.

The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra founded in Philadelphia in 1900. Conductors Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy helped shape the rich ensemble sonority known as the “Philadelphia Sound,” and the orchestra is heard on the soundtrack to Walt Disney’s Fantasia. The orchestra gave its first concert at the Academy of Music in 1900, and the hall remained the base for its main subscription season until 2001. The season then moved to Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, an auditorium now named Marian Anderson Hall. Its 1973 tour made it the first American orchestra to tour the People’s Republic of China, including concerts in Beijing and Shanghai.