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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Issac Stern
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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Isaac Stern
ISAAC STERN
Awarded by
President George Bush
December 11, 1992
Since his debut 56 years ago, Isaac Stern has become one of the world's preeminent violinists. His warm and vibrant interpretations have brought him international acclaim and our Nation's highest honor for artistic merit, the National Medal of Arts. But even beyond his triumphant career, Isaac Stern has enriched the human spirit by broadening the scope of music--supporting artists from all corners of the world; helping to found the National Endowment for the Arts; and rescuing Carnegie Hall from the wrecking ball. For his support of the arts and his lifetime of achievement, the United States recognizes master violinist Isaac Stern.
White House, 1962. Jacqueline Kennedy, President Kennedy, Mme. Malraux, and violinist Isaac Stern at a dinner reception in honor of Andre Malraux, French Minister of Cultural Affairs.
Biography
Active Decades: '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s
Born: 1920 in Russia
Died: 9/23/2001
Genre: Classical
Styles: Classical Violin
Known as one of the leading violinists of the 20th century, Isaac Stern has played for symphonies and orchestras and has performed many concerts and recitals. For more than five decades Isaac Stern has used his musical genius to entertain audiences worldwide.
Born in Russia in 1920, Isaac Stern is considered an American violinist. His parents brought him to America when he was ten months old. He grew up in San Francisco and was educated in the public school system. Isaac Stern's musical career began at eight when he was given violin lessons. His musical education began at home but he was eventually taught by Naourn Blinder , the conductor of the San Francisco Symphony. At the age of 13 Isaac Stern played his first recital.
In 1936 Isaac Stern made his first professional debut with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra . The nationally broadcast concert was the Brahams Violin Concerto with Pierre Monteux as the conductor. Following his debut he played at the Town Hall in New York in 1937 and finally at Carnegie Hall in 1943. For three decades Isaac Stern traveled nationwide performing solo and with symphonies and orchestras. In 1961 he formed a trio with cellist Leonard Rose and pianist Eugene Istomin .
Isaac Stern has devoted his life to standard and classical repertoire. He is credited with playing the works of Penderecki , Schuman , Bernstein and Peter Maxwell Davies . For 50 years he has recorded exclusively on the Sony Classical label. He has released more than 100 recordings of more than 63 composers. In 1985 Isaac Stern was awarded the first "Artist Laureate" for his continuous work and loyalty with the Sony Classical label. A 44-disc collection was released in 1995. The collection, titled Isaac Stern: A Life in Music , contains more than 100 recordings of Isaac Stern's lifetime of music.
For more than 50 years, Isaac Stern has devoted his time to entertaining audiences with his classical violin playing. His hard work and musical genius has not gone unnoticed. In 1974 he was made Commander of the French Ordre de la Couronne, was made a Fellow of Jerusalem and was awarded the Commander's Cross from the Danish government. He has been the president of Carnegie Hall for more than 30 years. He was one of the first recipients of the Albert Schweitzer Music Award and was awarded the Kennedy Centers Honor Award in 1984. In 1987 he was given the Gold Baton, the American Symphony Orchestra's highest honor. He received the National Medal of the Arts from President Bush in 1991 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. He holds honorary degrees from Bucknell University, Columbia University, Harvard, the Curtis Institute of Music, Hebrew University, Johns Hopkins, Oxford, Juilliard and Yale. Despite all this fame and recognition, Isaac Stern sees an important need to teach and mold young musicians. He devotes some of his time to educating young musicians. He lives in New York, still performing concerts and recitals worldwide.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Famed violinist Isaac Stern died Saturday. He was 81.
"Stern did pass away today," said Maria Dolce, an administrator at New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center.
During more than half a century as a professional musician, Stern appeared on concert stages around the world and served as a mentor to many young musicians.
Born in Kreminiecz, Ukraine in 1920, he came to the United States at 10 months of age after his parents fled the Russian Revolution in 1921.
Raised in San Francisco, he began playing the violin at the age of eight and made his recital debut at 13.
His orchestral debut came three years later, in 1936, with a performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony.
At 22, he debuted at Carnegie Hall.
Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, he toured the United States and Europe to great acclaim.
In addition to winning praise for his interpretations of symphony standards, Stern was a champion of contemporary music, and recorded new works for violin by contemporary composers.
Following the Six Day War in 1967, Stern performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto on top of Mount Scopus with the Israel Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein, a concert documented in the film "A Journey to Jerusalem."
He had an impact on cinema and television, too. The film "From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China" won the 1981 Academy Award for best full-length documentary and received a special mention at the Cannes Film Festival.
Stern performed in the movie soundtrack for "Fiddler on the Roof."
He was also featured in the American television broadcast of "Carnegie Hall: The Grand Reopening" which won a 1987 Emmy Award and the Carnegie Hall Centennial Gala Concert in May 1991.
For 40 years, Stern was president of Carnegie Hall, and led the effort to save it from demolition in 1960 and to restore it in 1986.
Stern's recent recordings include the complete Brahms Piano Quartets with Emanuel Ax, Jaime Laredo and Yo-Yo Ma, which won the 1991 Gramaphone Award for "Best Chamber Recording of the Year."
Stern was a founding member of the National Endowment for the Arts, and was chairman of the board of the American-Israel Cultural Foundation and chairman and founder of the Jerusalem Music Centre.
He was the first recipient of the Albert Schweitzer Music Award for "a life dedicated to music and devoted to humanity."
In 1984, President Reagan presented him with the Kennedy Center Honors Award at the White House, and Musical America named him musician of the year in 1986.
The American Symphony Orchestra League honored him in 1987 with the Gold Baton, its highest award.
That year, he was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Israel's Wolf Prize for service to humanity, and the National Music Council's American Eagle Award. In May 1990 Stern was awarded the Commandeur de la legion d'honneur by order of the President of the French Republic, François Mitterrand.
In 1991, he received the National Medal of the Arts from President George Bush, who also awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom , in 1992.
In 1997, Stern was given Japan's highest award, The Order of the Rising Sun.
He also held honorary degrees from a number of institutions, including Bucknell University, Columbia University, the Curtis Institute of Music, Harvard University, Hebrew University (Jerusalem), the University of Illinois, Johns Hopkins University, The Julliard School, New York University, Oxford University, the University of Tel Aviv and Yale University.
He had six children and five grandchildren.
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Medal History
