Recently Itzhak Perlman shared a Throwback Thursday Facebook post from his 1981 Sesame Street appearance with ‘Oscar the Grouch.’

Several fans commented on the post. One fan, Amanda Diamond, shared her memories:

“My daughter saw you on Sesame Street when she was 18 months old and said, “I want to be just like him!” I asked her if she wanted to play like the muppet and she said, “no, the other guy!” She started studying violin at 3 1/2 and viola at 4 1/2. She’s now 8 1/2, still playing both instruments, playing Vivaldi and Telemann and loving it. And it all started because she saw you on Sesame Street when she was a toddler,” posted Amanda Diamond.

In a similar vein, Sphinx Competition winner violinist Elena Urioste who recently shared how Ithak’s Sesame Street appearance impacted her love of music: “I saw Itzhak Perlman performing on the television show Sesame Street and was instantly captivated. It wasn’t so much a question of what area of music I wanted to enter; I just knew that I wanted to play the instrument that I was seeing on the screen in front of me!”

“Sesame Street”, which debuted in 1969, bridges many cultural and educational gaps with a fun program. Big Bird leads a cast of characters teaching children numbers, colors and the alphabet. Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch and Grover are just a few of the other creatures involved in this show, set on a city street full of valuable learning opportunities.

Share your favorite memories of Itzhak Perlman and his music with us on Facebook!