Shlomo Mintz facts for kids
Shlomo Mintz (שלמה מינץ) is a famous Israeli violinist and conductor. He was born in Russia on October 30, 1957. Shlomo Mintz often performs with big orchestras and conductors around the world. He also plays in solo concerts and chamber music shows.
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Early Life
Shlomo Mintz was born in Moscow, Russia. When he was two years old, his family moved to Israel. This move is called aliyah. In Israel, he studied violin with Ilona Feher. She was a student of a famous musician named Jenő Hubay. Ilona Feher introduced Shlomo to Isaac Stern, who became his mentor. A mentor is someone who guides and teaches a younger person. Shlomo also studied in New York with Dorothy DeLay.
Amazing Music Career
Shlomo Mintz first played on stage when he was just six years old. At age eleven, he performed as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. A soloist is a musician who plays alone with an orchestra. Soon after, he got a call from Zubin Mehta with only a week's notice. He needed to play a difficult violin concerto by Niccolò Paganini. This happened because another famous violinist, Itzhak Perlman, was sick.
When Shlomo was sixteen, he made his debut at Carnegie Hall in New York. This is a very famous concert hall. He played with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Isaac Stern and the American-Israel Cultural Foundation helped him study at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. When he was 18, he went on a big tour all over Europe. He also signed a long-term recording deal with Deutsche Grammophon. Many famous orchestras invited him to play, like the Berlin, Vienna, and Chicago Philharmonic Orchestras.
He has played with many other great musicians. Some of them include Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich, Pinchas Zukerman, and Itzhak Perlman. He also worked with conductors like Zubin Mehta and Claudio Abbado.
Leading Orchestras
When he was eighteen, Shlomo Mintz also started a career as a conductor. A conductor leads an orchestra and helps them play together. He has led many famous orchestras around the world. These include the Royal Philharmonic in the United Kingdom and the NHK Symphony in Japan. He was a music advisor for the Israel Chamber Orchestra from 1989 to 1993. He also worked with the Maastricht Symphony in the Netherlands. In 2008, he became the main guest conductor for the Zagreb Philharmonic. From 2002 to 2012, he was the artistic director of the Sion-Valais International Music Festival. An artistic director plans and organizes the performances.
He has also guest conducted for orchestras like the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Teaching Young Musicians
Shlomo Mintz teaches master classes all over the world. Master classes are special lessons where an expert teaches advanced students. He is the artistic director of Crans-Montana Classics in Switzerland.
He also helped start the Keshet Eilon International Violin Mastercourse in Israel. This is a summer program for talented young violinists. Students from all over the world come to Kibbutz Eilon in Israel to learn. He supported this program for eighteen years.
Special Projects and Competitions
Shlomo Mintz helped create the "Violins of Hope" project. He worked with violinmaker Amnon Weinstein. This project restored 45 violins that belonged to musicians who died during World War II. These violins were shown around the world. They were also part of a special event in Jerusalem. This event celebrated 60 years of the State of Israel.
Mintz has also been a judge for many international music competitions. He was a judge for the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He also judged the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels. He was even the head judge, or jury president, for the International Henryk Wieniawski Competition. He is also the jury president for several other violin competitions today.
Personal Life
Shlomo Mintz is married to Corina. She grew up in Italy and Germany and worked as an interpreter for art. They have two sons, Eliav and Alexander. Shlomo used to own a villa in Italy and a castle in Germany. But he mostly raised his family in a regular house in Sands Point, New York. He often performs over 150 concerts a year. He sometimes wishes he had more time with his children. He once said he wished he could have spent more time "shooting Nintendo with Eliav." His children are also musical. Eliav started playing piano and viola when he was young. His wife says it is "very special when daddy's home."
Awards and Honors
Shlomo Mintz has received many important awards for his music.
- Premio Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena
- Diapason d’Or
- Grand Prix du Disque (twice)
- Gramophone Award
- Edison Award (twice)
- Cremona Music Award
In May 2006, he received an honorary doctorate from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. This is a special degree given to people who have made great contributions.
Recordings
Shlomo Mintz records a lot of music. He records as both a soloist and a conductor. His music is released by companies like Deutsche Grammophon and RCA Victor.
Recordings:
- J.S. Bach: Bach Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin, BWV 1001 – 1006, Deutsche Grammophon
- Bartok: 2 Portraits, Deutsche Grammophon
- Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 1, RN
- Beethoven: Violin Concerto and the two Romances, Deutsche Grammophon
- Brahms: Complete Violin & Viola Sonatas, Avie Records and Magnatune
- Brahms: Violin Concerto, Deutsche Grammophon
- Bruch: Violin Concerto in G minor, Deutsche Grammophon
- Debussy: Violin Sonata in G minor, Ravel: Violin Sonata, Franck: Violin Sonata in A, Deutsche Grammophon
- Dvořák: Violin Concerto, Deutsche Grammophon
- Fauré: The two Violin Sonatas, Op. 13 in A & Op. 108 in E minor, Deutsche Grammophon
- Israel Philharmonic: 60th Anniversary Gala Concert, RCA Victor
- Kreisler: Selected violin works, Deutsche Grammophon
- Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole, Vieuxtemps: Concerto No. 5 and Saint-Saëns: ‘Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso’, Deutsche Grammophon
- Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Deutsche Grammophon
- Mendelssohn: The two Violin Sonatas, Deutsche Grammophon
- Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat for Violin and Viola, K. 364, RCA Victor
- Mozart: The five Violin Concertos, Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat and Concertone, Avie Records (also on Magnatune)
- Paganini: The 24 Caprices for violin solo, Op. 1, Deutsche Grammophon
- Prokofiev: The Violin Concertos, in D major and G minor, Opp. 19 & 63, Deutsche Grammophon
- Prokofiev: The two Violin Sonatas, in F minor and D major, Opp. 80 & 94a, Deutsche Grammophon
- Shostakovich: Violin Sonata Op.134 & Viola Sonata Op. 147, Erato
- Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Deutsche Grammophon
- Stravinsky ‘Histoire du Soldat’, Valois
- Vivaldi: ‘The Four Seasons’ (Il Cimento dell' Armonia e Invenzione: Violin Concertos 1–4), Deutsche Grammophon
- Vivaldi: Complete Violin Concertos (in 10 vols.), MusicMasters Classics.
See also
In Spanish: Shlomo Mintz para niños
- List of violinists
- Music in Israel
