On Monday, February 18th at NYU Skirball Center, WQXR proudly welcomes to the stage Alec Baldwin in conversation with the incomparable, Itzhak Perlman.
A live taping of Here’s the Thing, the night’s program includes an intimate conversation between friends, and an introduction to several talented students from The Perlman Music Program.
About Alec Baldwin
Since 1980, Alec Baldwin has appeared in numerous productions on stage, in films and on television. He has received a Tony nomination (A Streetcar Named Desire, 1992) an Oscar nomination (The Cooler, 2004) and has won three Emmy awards, three Golden Globes and seven consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards as Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on NBC-TV’s 30 Rock. His films include The Hunt for Red October, Glengarry Glen Ross, Malice, The Edge, It’s Complicated, Blue Jasmine, Still Alice, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, and The Boss Baby among many others.
Baldwin earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1994, and received an honorary doctorate from NYU in 2010. He is Co-Chairman of the Board of the Hamptons International Film Festival. He is also the radio announcer for the New York Philharmonic.
He has authored three books: A Promise to Ourselves, his memoir, Nevertheless, and with Kurt Andersen, You Can’t Spell America Without Me.
He serves on numerous boards related to the arts, the environment and progressive politics. Baldwin is married to author and fitness expert Hilaria Thomas Baldwin. They have four children: Carmen, Rafael, Leonardo and Romeo, as well as his eldest, Ireland Baldwin. Baldwin hosts ABC’s Match Game, the classic television game show; a portion of his proceeds are donated to charity.
About Itzhak Perlman
Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world who respond not only to his remarkable artistry, but also to his irrepressible joy for making music.
Having performed with every major orchestra and at concert halls around the globe, Perlman was granted a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian honor, by President Obama in 2015, a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003, a National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 2000, and a Medal of Liberty by President Reagan in 1986. Perlman has been honored with 16 GRAMMY® Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Genesis Prize.
The 2018/19 season marks the 60th anniversary of Itzhak Perlman’s U.S. debut and appearance on the Ed SullivanShow, which took place on November 2, 1958. This milestone was celebrated with a return to the Ed Sullivan Theater on November 2, 2018 in a special guest appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. This season Perlman performs the Mendelssohn Concerto with Gustavo Dudamel at the Hollywood Bowl and makes season-opening gala appearances with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas and with the Indianapolis Symphony and Krzysztof Urbański. Spring 2019 sees him performing duo concerts for the first time with the celebrated pianist Evgeny Kissin in Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C. and New York. Throughout the season, he makes appearances with his longtime collaborator, Rohan De Silva, in recitals across North America. In May 2019, he debuts a new program entitled “Evening with Itzhak Perlman” which captures highlights of his career through narrative and multi-media elements, intertwined with performance.
Further to his engagements as violinist and conductor, Mr. Perlman is increasingly making more appearances as a speaker. In November 2018, he joins Alan Alda for a conversation on the stage of New York’s 92ndStreet Y.
A recent award-winning documentary on Mr. Perlman, titled “Itzhak”, premiered in October 2017 as the opening film of the 25thAnnual Hamptons International Film Festival. It was released theatrically in over 100 cinemas nationwide in March 2018, with international releases that followed in Summer 2018. Directed by filmmaker Alison Chernick, the enchanting documentary details the virtuoso’s own struggles as a polio survivor and Jewish émigré and is a reminder why art is vital to life. For more information, visit www.itzhakthefilm.com.
Itzhak Perlman’s recordings have garnered 16 GRAMMY® Awards and regularly appear on the best-seller charts. In 2008, Mr. Perlman was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in the recording arts.