He played under the conductors Herbert Blomstedt, Aldo Ceccato, Erik Klass, Karl Österreicher, Kirill Kondrashin, Dimitri Kitajenko, Alexander Lasarev, Arvid Jansons, Yuri Temirkanov, Mariss Jansons, Woldemar Nelsson, Sauilus Sondeckis, Tadeusz Strugala, Natan Rachlin, Noeme Jarvi, Vladimir Fedosseyev.
He was a member of the jury in the international violin competitions Paganini in Genoa, Montreal, Henryk Wieniawski in Polen, Citta di Brescia, David Oistrakh in Moscow and Yehudi Menuhin in England.
On April 21, 1984, Krzysztof Penderecki himself conducted the premiere of his Concerto for Viola in Leningrad with Grigori Zhislin as soloist.
Zhislin also premiered the Cadenza per Viola Sola on September 10, 1984, at the country home of Penderecki in Luslawicw, Poland.
Among his internationally known students are Ilya Grubert, Dmitri Sitkovetsky, Nicolas Koeckert, Daniel Hope, Sergey Khatchatrian, and his son, Yuri Zhislin.