Born in Dubrovna, Belarus, Zvi Zeitlin was raised and educated in Israel. At age 11, he became the youngest scholarship student in the history of the Juilliard School. Receiving a diploma and postgraduate diploma from Juilliard, Zeitlin studied with Sascha Jacobsen, Louis Persinger, and Ivan Galamian. He served in the British RAF (1943-46) and concertized for British, American, and Soviet troops throughout the Middle East and Greece.
He premiered the Schoenberg Violin Concerto in Buenos Aires (1964); it was recorded with Rafael Kubelik and the Bavarian State Orchestra for DGG in 1971. It was reissued recently as "20th Century Classics" and is now a collector's item. Gunther Schuller's Concerto was commissioned by the Eastman School of Music as part of Zeitlin's appointment as Kilbourn Professor in 1976. Zeitlin premiered it at the 1976 Lucerne Festival with the composer conducting. He then performed it in the U.S, Europe, and Australia with the Utah Symphony, the Boston Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Halle Orchestra in England, the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra in Germany, and in Sydney, Australia. Zeitlin edited and published a newly discovered concerto by Pietro Nardini for G. Schirmer. He also has recorded for Vox, CRI, Gasparo, Pantheon, and Musical Heritage. Articles by Zeitlin were published in Strings in 1990 and 1995.
Mr. Zeitlin's students occupy concertmasterships and other leading positions in many major orchestras in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and other parts of the world; hold important positions in universities and music schools worldwide; and are major prizewinners in international and regional competitions.
