Since the 19th century, Jews have made major contributions to Western music in general and to American music in particular. Perhaps the greatest composer of Jewish origin in the early 19th century was Felix Mendelssohn. Jacques Offenbach is another major example of that period. Gustav Mahler, a leading modern composer, represents the end of that century. In the 20th century the French Darius Milhuad, the Viennese Arnold Schoenberg, and the Americans George Gershwin and Aaron Copland set music trends.

Jews have also given the world some of the greatest violinists of the past hundred years, including the Europeans Jascha Heifetz, Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrakh, and Nathan Milstein; the American Isaac Stern; and the Israelis Yitzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zuckerman. Among great Jewish pianists of our time are the Europeans Artur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Rudolf Serkin, and Vladimir Ashkenazy; and the Israelis David Bar-Ilan and Daniel Barenboim, who was born in Argentina.

Another area where Jews have made an enormous musical contribution is orchestra conducting. Many of the great Jewish conductors were born in Europe, but a good number pursued their careers in the U.S. where they conducted major orchestras: George Szell (Cleveland), Eugene Ormandy (Philadephia), Andre Previn (Los Angeles), William Steinberg (Pittsburgh), Max Rudolf (Cincinnati), Jos