Renowned violinist cancels Bartlesville appearance due to

Friday, June 16th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (AP) -- Renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman has canceled his Saturday concert at the OK Mozart festival because of an undisclosed family emergency, festival officials said.

Perlman was on a private plane bound for Bartlesville when he learned of the emergency and asked that the plane return to New York, said OK Mozart executive director Nan Buhlinger.

Perlman's management group, IMG Artists, said it was only the fourth time Perlman has canceled a performance.

A personal friend of Perlman's, pianist Emanuel Ax, will step in as the featured performer for the final OK Mozart festival concert.

"At this last-minute emergency, we are amazingly lucky that Emanuel Ax was gracious enough to join us," said Ransom Willis, the festival's artistic director.

Ax first got the attention of the world stage at age 25 when he took the top prize at the first Arthur Rubenstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv in 1974.