Perlman was born on August 31, 1945, in Tel Aviv.[2] His parents, Chaim and Shoshana Perlman, were Jewish natives of Poland and had independently emigrated to Mandatory Palestine in the mid-1930s before they met and later married. Perlman contracted polio at age four and has walked using leg braces and crutches since then[3] and plays the violin while seated. As of 2018[update], he uses crutches or an electric scooter for mobility.[4]
When Perlman was three years old, he listened to a violin recital on the radio featuring the violinist Jascha Heifetz. This experience inspired him to become a violinist. His mother soon bought him a toy violin, and he quickly taught himself to play melodies. His parents tried to enroll him at the Shulamit Conservatory, but he was denied admission for being too small to hold a violin.[5] Despite this setback, he began learning the violin a year later, with his first teacher being a café violinist. At five years old, Perlman was admitted to the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv (now known as the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music), where he took violin lessons for eight years with Rivka Goldgart, a teacher of Russian origin. He gave his first recital at the age of ten. [6][7] At thirteen, he moved to the United States to continue his violin studies at the Juilliard School in New York City and the Meadowmount School of Music in Essex County, New York,[1] studying under Ivan Galamian and his assistant, Dorothy DeLay.[8]
Career
Performing
Ed Sullivan congratulates 13-year-old Perlman after a concert (1958)
Perlman played at the state dinner attended by Queen Elizabeth II on May 7, 2007, in the East Room at the White House.[32]
He performed John Williams's "Air and Simple Gifts" at the 2009 inauguration ceremony for Barack Obama along with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Gabriela Montero, and clarinetist Anthony McGill. The quartet played live, but the music played simultaneously over speakers and on television was a recording made two days earlier due to concerns that the cold weather could damage the instruments. Perlman was quoted as saying: "It would have been a disaster if we had done it any other way."[33]
On November 2, 2018, Perlman reprised the 60th anniversary of his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show as a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[34]
Teaching
In 1975, Perlman accepted a faculty post at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College.[25] In 2003, he was named the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation Chair in Violin Studies at the Juilliard School, succeeding his teacher, Dorothy DeLay.[35] He also teaches students one-on-one at the Perlman Music Program on Long Island, NY, rarely holding master classes.[25]
The Perlman Music Program
The Perlman Music Program, founded in 1994 by Perlman's wife, Toby Perlman, and Suki Sandler, started as a summer camp for exceptional string musicians between the ages of 12 and 18.[36] Over time, it expanded to a yearlong program. Students have the chance to have Perlman coach them before they play at venues such as the Sutton Place Synagogue and public schools.[37] By introducing students to each other and requiring them to practice together, the program strives to have musicians who would otherwise practice alone develop a network of friends and colleagues. Rather than remain isolated, participants in the program find an area where they belong.[38]
Perlman lives in New York City with his wife, Toby, also a classically trained violinist. They met as students and married in 1967. They have five children, including Navah Perlman, a concert pianist and chamber musician.[25][40] Perlman is a distant cousin of the Canadian comic and television personality Howie Mandel.[41] He has synesthesia and was interviewed for Tasting the Universe by Maureen Seaberg, which is about the condition.[42]
When asked about the Gaza war in 2024, Perlman stated that he was loyal to Israel.[43]
Discography
Perlman has recorded music in many genres.[44] In 2025, Deutsche Grammophon (DG) issued its complete 25 recordings with Perlman on the occasion of his 80th birthday.[45]
From 1960s
Prokofieff: Concerto No. 2 in G Minor / Sibelius: Concerto in D Minor (RCA Victor, 1967)
Franck: Sonata for Violin & Piano (Vladimir Ashkenazy) in A Major / Brahms: Trio for Violin, Horn (Barry Tuckwell) and Piano in E flat Major (London Records, 1969)[46]
Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole / Ravel: Tzigane (RCA Red Seal, 1969)
From 1970s
Prokofiev: Sonatas for Violin and Piano, No. 1, Op. 80 / No. 2, Op. 94a (RCA Red Seal, 1969 & RCA Gold Seal, 1975)
The 24 Caprices, Op. 1 by Paganini (Angel Records, 1972)
Bach: Double Concerto in D Minor, Violin Concerto No. 2 in E, Violin Concerto in G Minor (Angel 1972)
Wieniawski: The Two Violin Concertos (Angel, 1973)
"Israeli Violin Prodigy Admits He Likes Jazz: But Doesn't Play It, Says Lad, 13, Who Overcame Polio to Become Noted Artist". Los Angeles Times. November 29, 1958. p.B1. ProQuest167374800.
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