NEW YORK - Violinist Gil Shaham is currently at the height of his professional career as a world-class musician. He could fill his calendar with concerts almost every day of the year, but has decided to do otherwise.

"There were periods," he says, "when I had 200 performances a year and spent only three days a month at home. There were times when I had jet lag for five months straight. Now I prefer to limit my performances to 50 a year and to spend more time with my family."

Shaham, who played last week with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in one of its 70th-anniversary concerts, has played with the most important orchestras in the world, including the New York Philharmonic and acclaimed orchestras in Berlin, London, Paris, Moscow, Chicago and Philadelphia. This year, Shaham performed with the orchestras of Los Angeles, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Seattle and Cincinnati, and also joined Chicago's orchestra on a concert tour.

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Shaham, 35, has two children, aged 4 and 1, with his wife Adele, also a violinist.

"We are both very fortunate," says Shaham. "We are our own boss. We have reached the point where we can limit the number of concerts in which we perform. Now we have the opportunity, after many years of traveling like crazy, to invest in raising our family. The truth is that I couldn't ask for more. I play with musicians on such a high level. Sometimes I play with my wife. Sometimes I play with my sister, Orli, who is a successful pianist. Recently we performed together in Valencia, Spain."

Replacing Perlman

Shaham owns a Stradivarius violin made in 1699.

"I bought it when I was 18, for $1 million," he relates. "Of course, I took out loans to buy it. Over the years I have repaid the loans. Now these violins sell for much more. I have no idea how much my violin is worth, perhaps $3 or $4 million. These days it is more and more difficult for violinists to own their own violins."

Shaham's home base is in New York. He was born in the United States to Israeli emissaries. His family returned to Israel when he was 2 years old. He began playing the violin at age 7, studying first with Samuel Bernstein and then with Haim Taub. As a youngster, he performed with the Israel Broadcasting Authority's orchestra and at an IPO youth concert.

When Shaham was 11, his parents, a geneticist and a physicist, left Israel on sabbatical. They had planned to be away for a year, but that year was repeatedly extended. Shaham began studying at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. One day, when Itzhak Perlman had an ear infection and could not fly with the symphony orchestra to a concert in London, Shaham received a phone call at school.

"Someone from the administrator's office told me to go there immediately. I didn't understand what had happened. Usually I was not called to that office for good things. Someone was waiting to speak to me on the phone, and told me I could perform with the orchestra if I wanted, but that due to the lack of time, I would have to get on a Concord plane right away. I went. I was 17 back then. Some of the audience did not like the substitute and some people returned their tickets, but the reviews were excellent.

"If until then I had received five invitations a year to play at concerts," adds Shaham, "after that concert, the number of invitations jumped to 50 or 60."

Shaham plays with the IPO once a year.

"It is a good reason for me to come to Israel and get together with friends," he explains. "My relationship with the IPO began 30 years ago, when my parents took us to a concert. It is a pleasure to play with the orchestra, in front of the Israeli audience, which knows how to appreciate music."

Music nurtures the brain

Is it true that people are losing interest in classical music? Shaham says he has not noticed this.

"Perhaps people in the classical music industry know something I don't," he says. "When I perform, the concert halls are full. There are a great many orchestras in the world, music schools today have more students than when I was studying, and the level is higher. In general, it is a wonder that classical music has survived so many years. Mozart wrote his musical works 300 years ago. That music is played throughout the world and has influenced so many people."

Shaham says he enjoys playing now more than ever before.

"Lorin Maazel (musical director for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra) told me that the more you're involved in music, the more you enjoy it," says Shaham. "He told me that when he was 70. Today, now that I am 35, I am beginning to understand that. Music nourishes and matures the brain. When I was younger I had to prove myself. Now I have reached the point where I simply enjoy playing for myself. There is an extraordinary challenge in taking notes on paper, breathing life into an ideal, and playing a Bach sonata better than it was played in the past."

With age, Shaham has also changed direction. Shaham used to play in a more concert-like style. In the upcoming seasons, he will be playing more chamber music.

"People forget that most of the repertoire for violin was written for chamber ensembles," says Shaham.