Gil Shaham facts for kids

Gil Shaham (Hebrew: גיל שחם; born February 19, 1971) is a famous American violinist. He has won a Grammy Award and played as a solo musician with many of the world's best orchestras. These include the New York Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic. He is known for his amazing performances of classical music.

Biography

Early Life and Family

Gil Shaham was born in Urbana, Illinois, in the United States. His parents were from Israel and were studying at the University of Illinois. His father, Jacob, was an astrophysicist, which means he studied space and stars. His mother, Meira Diskin, was a cytogeneticist, who studies cells and genes.

Gil has a sister named Orli Shaham, who is also a well-known pianist. His brother, Shai Shaham, is a scientist who leads a laboratory at Rockefeller University.

Moving to Jerusalem and Early Music Lessons

When Gil was two years old, his family moved to Jerusalem, Israel. He started taking violin lessons at the Rubin Academy of Music when he was seven. He was very talented and won scholarships every year from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

Education and Training

Later, Gil Shaham moved to New York and graduated from the Horace Mann School. He also attended the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado, where he studied with famous teachers like Dorothy DeLay. He then received a scholarship to the Juilliard School, which is a very famous music school. Both he and his sister Orli also studied at Columbia University.

Personal Life

Today, Gil Shaham lives in New York City. He also teaches music at the Bard College Conservatory of Music. He is married to another talented violinist, Adele Anthony. They have three children together.

Music Career

First Performances

Gil Shaham made his first solo performance with the Jerusalem Symphony when he was only 10 years old. Less than a year later, he played with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, which is Israel's most important orchestra. When he was 11, he won first prize in the Claremont Competition. After that, he was accepted into the Juilliard School.

Breakthrough Moment

Gil Shaham's career really took off in 1989. He was still a high school student when he got a big chance. He had to step in for the famous violinist Itzhak Perlman, who was sick. Gil performed two difficult violin concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall. This performance showed everyone his amazing talent.

Awards and Performances

In 1990, Gil Shaham won the Avery Fisher Career Grant. Two years later, in 1992, he received the Premio Internazionale from the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy.

He has performed with many of the world's top orchestras. These include the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2021, he was a soloist at the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts in Central Park, New York.

His Special Violin

Since 1989, Gil Shaham has played a very special violin. It is called the "Comtesse de Polignac" and was made in 1699 by Stradivarius. These violins are very rare and valuable. This particular violin is on loan to him from the Stradivarius Society of Chicago.

Discography

Gil Shaham has recorded many classical music albums. Here are some of his well-known recordings:

• Mendelssohn, Bruch: Violin Concertos (1990)
• Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (1995)
• Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2 (1999)
• John Williams: Treesong / Violin Concerto / 3 Pieces from Schindler's List (2001)
• Brahms: Violin Concerto / Double Concerto (2002)
• Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (2015)

Awards

• Avery Fisher Career Grant (1990)
• Premio Internazionale of the Accademia Chigiana in Siena (1992)
• Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance (1999) for his work on American Scenes.
• Avery Fisher Award (2008)
• Instrumentalist of the Year (2012)

See also

In Spanish: Gil Shaham para niños