Heifetz institute

January 20] — December 10, was a Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Accompanying his parents to escape the violence of the Russian Revolution , he moved to the United States as a teenager, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. Fritz Kreisler , another leading violinist of the twentieth century, said after hearing Heifetz's debut, "We might as well take our fiddles and break them across our knees.

By the age of 18, Heifetz was the highest-paid violinist in the world. Heifetz was born into a Lithuanian-Jewish family in Vilnius which was then part of the Russian Empire , and is currently the capital of Lithuania. His father, Reuven Heifetz, was a local violin teacher and served as the concertmaster of the Vilnius Theatre Orchestra for one season before the theatre closed down.

While Jascha was an infant, his father did a series of tests, observing how his son responded to his violin playing. This convinced him that Jascha had great potential, and before Jascha was two years old, his father bought him a small violin, and taught him bowing and simple fingering. In , at the age of five, Heifetz entered the local music school in Vilna where he studied with Ilya Malkin.

Jascha name

Recognized as a child prodigy , he made his public debut at seven, in Kovno now Kaunas , Lithuania playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. He played in Germany and Scandinavia, and met Fritz Kreisler for the first time in a Berlin private house, in a "private press matinee on May 20, Among other noted violinists in attendance was Fritz Kreisler.

After the year-old Heifetz performed the Mendelssohn violin concerto, Abell reported that Kreisler said to all present, 'We may as well break our fiddles across our knees. Heifetz visited much of Europe while still in his teens. In April , he performed in an outdoor concert in St. Petersburg before 25, spectators; there was such a reaction that police officers needed to protect the young violinist after the concert.