Isaac Stern

Isaac Stern earned recognition as a preeminent violinist throughout the twentieth century through performances with leading symphonic ensembles and a wide array of concerts and recitals. Across more than fifty years his exceptional artistry brought enjoyment to listeners around the world.

Russia was his birthplace in 1920, yet he came to be identified as an American violinist after his parents relocated him to the United States at ten months of age. He spent his childhood in San Francisco and received his schooling through the public system there. Violin lessons began at home when he turned eight, and he subsequently studied with Naourn Blinder, conductor of the San Francisco Symphony. At age thirteen he presented his first recital.

His initial professional appearance took place in 1936 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in a nationally broadcast performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto conducted by Pierre Monteux. Subsequent engagements included a 1937 concert at New York’s Town Hall and a 1943 appearance at Carnegie Hall. For three decades he toured across the country as a soloist and in collaboration with symphonies and orchestras. In 1961 he formed a trio with cellist Leonard Rose and pianist Eugene Istomin.

Stern focused his career on the standard classical repertory and became known for his performances of works by Penderecki, Schuman, Bernstein, and Peter Maxwell Davies. For fifty years he recorded exclusively for the Sony Classical label, releasing more than one hundred albums that featured compositions by over sixty-three composers. In 1985 he received the label’s first “Artist Laureate” designation for his sustained contributions and loyalty. A forty-four-disc retrospective appeared in 1995 under the title Isaac Stern: A Life in Music.

Throughout his life Stern committed himself to bringing classical violin music to audiences, and his achievements received numerous honors. In 1974 he was appointed Commander of the French Ordre de la Couronne, named a Fellow of Jerusalem, and awarded the Commander’s Cross by the Danish government. He served as president of Carnegie Hall for more than thirty years. One of the early recipients of the Albert Schweitzer Music Award, he also received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1984. The American Symphony Orchestra presented him with its Gold Baton in 1987. President Bush awarded him the National Medal of the Arts in 1991, and he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom the following year. Honorary degrees were conferred by Bucknell University, Columbia University, Harvard, the Curtis Institute of Music, Hebrew University, Johns Hopkins, Oxford, Juilliard, and Yale. Amid such recognition Stern also saw the importance of nurturing new talent, and toward the end of his life he devoted time to teaching young musicians. He died of heart failure in New York City on September 22, 2001.