Violinist Isaac Stern was born in Ukraine on this day, July 21, 1920. He was brought to the U.S. when he was one, and began his studies at the San Francisco Conservatory at eight.
At 15, he made his San Francisco Symphony debut with Pierre Monteux. While he was still a teenager, he became one of the foremost violinists in America.
During the Second World War, he performed for Allied troops in the Pacific, Iceland and in Greenland.
According to Grove Music online, Stern played most of the “great violin concertos from Bach to Bartok.” In the words of Grove biographer Boris Schwarz, Stern’s “distinctive style reflected his vibrant personality, total involvement in music and intense communication with his listeners.”
In 1960, he organized a group that saved Carnegie Hall.
Stern helped to create the National Endowment for the Arts and while he was chairman of the board of the American-Israeli Foundation he helped to foster the careers of many young musicians, including Pinchas Zukerman.
The film made about Stern’s trip to China in 1970, "From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China," won an Oscar in 1981.
