Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist.[1]
This article is about the American violinist. For the accountant to Oskar Schindler, see Itzhak Stern. For the early Massachusetts settler, see Isaac Stearns.
Born in Poland, Stern moved to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and performing extensively in Israel, a country to which he had close ties since shortly after its founding.
Stern received extensive recognition for his work, including winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom and six Grammy Awards, and being named to the French Legion of Honour. The Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall bears his name, due to his role in saving the venue from demolition in the 1960s.
Ties to Israel[edit]
Stern maintained close ties with Israel. Stern began performing in the country in 1949.[1] In 1973, he performed for wounded Israeli soldiers during the Yom Kippur War. During the 1991 Gulf War and Iraq's Scud missile attacks on Israel, he had been playing in the Jerusalem Theater. During his performance, an air raid siren sounded, causing the audience to panic. Stern then stepped onto the stage and began playing a movement of Bach. The audience then calmed down, donned gas masks, and sat throughout the rest of his performance.[12] Stern was a supporter of several educational projects in Israel, among them the America-Israel Foundation and the Jerusalem Music Center.[1]