Born, Tel Aviv, 1948.
Beginning to study music with his father, Zukerman had been accepted to the Israel Conservatory by the age of eight. He studied with some of the best teachers in the world, including Pablo Casals and Issac Stern. He also studied at the Juilliard Institute. He spent the next few years preforming with various orchestras world-wide on violin. Zukerman also preformed on the viola, recording some of the finest examples of modern viola playing ever. While some critics claim he is merely a violinist paying lip-service to the viola for the sake of recording companies, his merrit as a performer and his seemingly genuine interested in the instrument goes a long way to silence them.
Not restricting himself solely to performing, Zukerman has also partaken in a vary sucessful career as a conductor, raising the baton over orchestras such as the English Chamber Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, and many others. Most notably, he has also become the music director, conductor, and occasional soloist of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Through this excellent organization, Zukerman has vastly increased the popularity of classical music among the general public without comprimising the music's integrity and beauty.
Feeling the need to give back to music some of what he has reaped, Zukerman is also an active teacher and rarely passes up an opportunity to foster the love of music in younger generations.
Zukerman Links
1) For those desiring a slightly more in-depth bio on Zukerman, this link provides a little more insight on one of the most well-known musicians of our time.
There are more coming, some server problems have prevented me from linking them at this time.