Erick Friedman is considered by many as one of the greatest American born violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

ists of the past century. Erick Friedman's illustrious career took him to many of the great concert stages of the world appearing as guest soloist

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 with most of the great orchestras throughout the United States and abroad: the New York Philharmonic

New York Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...

 and the National Symphony, the orchestras of New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Miami, Detroit, Indianapolis, the Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris and many other major orchestras throughout the world. Karajan, Stokowski, Steinberg, Leinsdorf, Previn, and Ozawa are some of the celebrated conductors with whom he collaborated with. Mr. Friedman's recordings for RCA earned him accolades including the prestigious Grammy Award. Mr. Friedman has been featured playing the Bartók

Béla Bartók

Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...

 Violin Concerto in an A&E Television Production on Bartók which was released worldwide. His tribute to Fritz Kreisler

Fritz Kreisler

Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...

 is available on VHS at online vendors including Amazon. Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Isadore Freed, Ezra Laderman, and Laurent Petitgirard are some of the internationally celebrated composers who wrote and/or dedicated compositions to him. Erick Friedman studied at The Juilliard School

Juilliard School

The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

 with Ivan Galamian

Ivan Galamian

Ivan Alexander Galamian was an influential Armenian violin teacher of the twentieth century.He was born in Tabriz, Iran, but his family soon emigrated to Moscow, Russia. Galamian studied violin at the School of the Philharmonic Society there with Konstantin Mostras until his graduation in 1919...

. At age fourteen he began studies with Nathan Milstein

Nathan Milstein

Nathan Mironovich Milstein was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist.Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for works from the Romantic period...

 and later worked with the legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz

Jascha Heifetz

Jascha Heifetz was a violinist, born in Vilnius, then Russian Empire, now Lithuania. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time.- Early life :...

 with whom he recorded the Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

 Double Violin Concerto for RCA. In the early 1970s, Mr. Friedman was on the violin faculty of the North Carolina School of the Arts. He later held faculty positions at the Manhattan School of Music

Manhattan School of Music

The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...

, Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...

, and the Yale School of Music

Yale School of Music

The Yale School of Music is one of the twelve professional schools at Yale University and one of the premier music conservatories in the world....

.

Friedman was the recipient of the 2000 Ignace J. Paderewski Award for Distinguished Contributions to Society and Culture.

Mr. Friedman died of cancer on March 30, 2004.