Violinist played across many genres
Ivry Gitlis, an acclaimed violinist who played with famed conductors, rock stars and jazz bands around the world and worked to make classical music accessible to the masses, has died in Paris at 98.
France’s culture minister announced his death Thursday, hailing him as “a magnificent performer, a generous musician” who dedicated his life “to serving all kinds of music.” The cause of death and plans for funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.
Recognizable in recent decades by his long white hair and distinctive caps and scarves, Gitlis began playing in the 1920s and per
formed into the 2010s. The Paris Philharmonic celebrated “one of the longest and most prolific careers in the history of music.”
Gitlis was born in Haifa, Israel, in 1922, and sent to the Paris Conservatory at age 10 under the guidance of violinist Bronislaw Huberman, the ministry said.
The artist continued training in Europe and the U.S., where he performed with leading conductors starting in the 1950s.
Gitlis performed with the Rolling Stones and jazz stars, appeared on French TV shows and founded a French music festival in the 1970s where listeners ate and slept in a field.
Among his many worldwide appearances, Gitlis was the first Israeli musician to perform in Soviet Russia, in 1963, Le Monde reported.
He held charity concerts in Japan after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami while many other performers canceled shows, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported, and played a violin made from wooden debris from the disaster.