A child prodigy, he lived in Poland, Moscow, Berlin, and Paris, before formally immigrating to the U.S. in 1938, at age 27.

[1][2] One of Totenberg's favorite instruments was the Ames Stradivarius, which was stolen from his office in the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts after a concert in May 1980.

[4][5] Totenberg was a child prodigy[3] who made his concert debut at the age of eleven with conductor Grzegorz Fitelberg.

[12] Totenberg toured South America with Franz Reizenstein in 1937,[11] and gave joint recitals with Karol Szymanowski.

[20] He performed under eminent conductors including Leopold Stokowski,[21] Kubelik, Szell, Rodzinski, Grzegorz Fitelberg,[6] Jochum, Rowicki, Krenz, Pierre Monteux,[21] Wit, Steinberg and Vladimir Golschmann.

[22] In recital he appeared at the White House,[9][7] Carnegie Hall,[23] the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[21] and in every major American and European city.

[26][27] In addition to his concert activities, Totenberg held the position of Professor of Music at Boston University, where he headed the string department from 1961 to 1978.

[36][3] Totenberg recorded for many labels, including Deutsche Grammophon, Telefunken, Philips, Vanguard, Musical Heritage Society, Heliodor, Remington, Da Camera, Dover, Titanic and VQR.

Totenberg suspected aspiring violinist Philip S. Johnson of the theft, but police at the time did not believe there was enough evidence to issue a search warrant.

And once again, the beautiful, brilliant and throaty voice of that long-stilled violin will thrill audiences in concert halls around the world.