Itzhak Perlman's Jewish Violin - A Talk by Dr. Hankus Netsky

Sunday, April 3 at 3:00 p.m. EST

Watch the Event Recording

For most of his extraordinary career, violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman has been known not only as one of the world's greatest classical violinists but also as a tireless advocate for traditional Eastern European Jewish music. Hankus Netsky, one of the primary musicians who has worked alongside Perlman in his Jewish musical explorations, will share insights into the Maestro's connections with his own ethnic musical roots as reflected in commercial recordings, concert footage, and material from Hankus's own personal archive.

A multi-instrumentalist, composer, and ethnomusicologist, Hankus Netsky is co-chair of New England Conservatory’s Contemporary Improvisation Department and founder and director of the Klezmer Conservatory Band. He has composed extensively for film, theater, and television, collaborated closely on musical projects with Itzhak Perlman, Robin Williams, Joel Grey, Robert Brustein, Theodore Bikel, and poets Jane Hirshfield and Robert Pinsky, and has produced numerous recordings, including ten by the Klezmer Conservatory Band. He is the recipient of a “Forward Fifty” award, a New England Conservatory Outstanding Alumni award, the Yosl Mlotek award for the perpetuation of Yiddish Culture, and NEC’s Louis Krasner and Lawrence Lesser awards for Excellence in Teaching. His essays have been published by the University of California Press, the University of Pennsylvania Press, the University of Scranton Press, Hips Roads, Indiana University Press, and the University Press of America, and Temple University Press published his book, “Klezmer, Music and Community in 20th Century Jewish Philadelphia” in 2015. He has also taught at Hebrew College, Hampshire College, McGill University, and Wesleyan University.