His parents, Chaim and Shoshana Perlman, were Jewish natives of Poland and had independently emigrated to Mandatory Palestine in the mid-1930s before they met and later married.

Perlman contracted polio at age four and has walked using leg braces and crutches since then[3] and plays the violin while seated.

[9] His performances on the show included pieces such as Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee", Wieniawski's "Polonaise Brillante", and Mendelssohn's violin concerto.

[11] With the Zionist Organization of America's sponsorship, Perlman began touring cities in the U.S. and Canada as a soloist, and quickly established himself as a leading virtuoso.

[2] From 1964 to 1966, Perlman embarked on his first notable concert tour in the United States, performed in 30 cities, including Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Denver, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Haven, Seattle, and St.

During the later part of 1964, Perlman gave several concerts in Israel, a tour that concluded with the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto at the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv.

[19] He debuted with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival on August 4, 1966, in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with conductor Thomas Schippers.

Although Perlman has never been billed or marketed as a singer, he sang the role of "Un carceriere" ("a jailer") on a 1981 EMI recording of Puccini's "Tosca" that featured Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, and Renato Bruson, with James Levine conducting.

He had earlier sung the role in an excerpt from the opera on a 1980 Pension Fund Benefit Concert telecast as part of the Live from Lincoln Center series with Luciano Pavarotti as Cavaradossi and Zubin Mehta conducting the New York Philharmonic.

On July 5, 1986, Perlman performed at the New York Philharmonic's tribute to the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, which was televised live on ABC.

In 1987, Perlman joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) for its concerts in Warsaw and Budapest as well as other cities in Eastern bloc countries.

While primarily a solo artist, Perlman has performed with a number of other musicians, including Yo-Yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman, Jessye Norman, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Isaac Stern, and Yuri Temirkanov at the 150th anniversary celebration of Tchaikovsky in Leningrad in December 1990.

[31] Perlman played at the state dinner attended by Queen Elizabeth II on May 7, 2007, in the East Room at the White House.

[32] He performed John Williams's "Air and Simple Gifts" at the 2009 inauguration ceremony for Barack Obama along with Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Gabriela Montero (piano), and Anthony McGill (clarinet).

He also teaches students one-on-one at the Perlman Music Program on Long Island, NY, rarely holding master classes.

His first concert in these roles was on October 11, 2008, in an all-Beethoven program featuring pianist Leon Fleisher performing the Emperor Concerto.