Violinist/Conductor Shlomo Mintz Born in Moscow

October 30, 1957
Shlomo Mintz, violinist and conductor, is born in Moscow.
In 1959, when Mintz is 2, his family moves to Israel.
His father begins to teach him the violin when Mintz is 3½. At 6, he begins studying under Ilona Feher, with whom he remains until age 16. Mintz’s concerto debut comes at age 11 with a performance of Paginini’s Violin Concerto No. 1, Opus 6, accompanied by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Zubin Mehta.
At 16, Mintz moves to the United States to study under Dorothy Delay at the Juilliard School and is quickly noticed by violinist Isaac Stern. By 18, Mintz is on a European tour, playing with prominent European conductors and building his own capacity as a conductor. Mintz signs a long-term recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon a few years later and wins multiple awards for live and recorded performances.
Mintz has conducted the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, and regularly serves on juries at international competitions.
He is part of the Violins of Hope project, which restores violins, violas and cellos owned by Jewish musicians killed in ghettos and concentration camps during the Holocaust. The collection is used in concerts, exhibitions and other events to memorialize the owners, the instruments and the Holocaust.