‘Be in the music, and the rest will come by itself’ Last year, at just age 25, violinist Yamen Saadi was appointed Concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera and Vienna Philharmonic. Yamen holds this position alongside a busy schedule of

“Good for the Soul” Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat Major, “The Emperor” 3rd Movement (Tal-Haim Samnon, piano; Zubin Mehta, cond.) Israeli pianist Tal-Haim Samnon is based in Tel Aviv, and regularly performs as a concerto soloist in

‘A Good Piece Is One That Persuades You At This Moment That It’s The Most Beautiful Thing In The World’ Chopin: Polonaise-Fantaisie in A flat major, Op. 61 Barely age 21, young Israeli pianist Tom Borrow is making a name

Audiences and Solitude Israeli pianist Yehuda Inbar, currently based in Berlin, is an internationally renowned young performer, and the artistic director of the Akko International Chamber Music and Jazz Festival in Israel. His debut album, released in 2019, featured the

‘Absorb as much as possible from life around you’ Russian-Israeli trumpeter Sergei Nakariakov performs in Hong Kong on 16 February with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, playing works by Mozart and Jörg Widmann.

A Mandolin in Carnegie Hall? Surely not? But yes, it’s been done, in addition to Wigmore Hall and the Lincoln Center. Israeli-born Avi Avital is on a mission: to make the mandolin as at-home in the concert hall as the

A Sincere and Serious Pianist There is a certain seriousness about Russian musicians. I remember talking to Valery Gergiev once after his rehearsal with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; every note, for him, is about life and death. In fact, this

Regarded by the Times as having ‘passion, precision, warmth, a gold blend’, the Jerusalem Quartet was founded in 1993. Since then, it has been active in the international music scene, performing worldwide and collaborating with renowned performers like Mitsuko Uchida,