Children’s Aid Elementary School Students Treated to Performance by World-Class Violinist Julian Rachlin

May 25, 2007

You might not expect an auditorium full of elementary school students to pay rapt attention to a classical violinist on a sunny, beautiful spring afternoon, when the playground is calling. But on May 22 at The Children's Aid Society’s Community School P.S. 152 in Washington Heights, that’s exactly what happened.

Julian Rachlin poses with students from P.S. 152

World-renowned violinist Julian Rachlin, in New York City to play a series of concerts at Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, played a special hour-long concert for the students. Rachlin’s impassioned playing, and his willingness to interact with the children and answer their questions about music, made instant classical music fans of all in attendance. He amazed the students by telling them that his violin – a 1741 “ex Carrodus” Guarnerius del Gesù – is older than the nation of the United States. Rachlin was accompanied on a Baldwin piano by his mother Sophie, herself an accomplished musician.

At the age of 32, Julian Rachlin has already established himself as one of the most charismatic and exciting violinists of his generation. He has performed with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors and is praised for his powerful and refreshing interpretations. Rachlin is famous for bringing down the house at concert halls around the world – and now at an elementary school in Washington Heights as well.