Steeped in the celebrated Russian tradition of music making, Maxim Vengerov enjoys international acclaim as a musician of the highest order and is one of the most in-demand soloists in all of classical music.

Born in 1974, Maxim Vengerov began his career as a solo violinist at the age of five, winning the Wieniawski and Carl Flesch international competitions at ten and fifteen years old respectively. He studied with Galina Tourchaninova followed by Zakhar Bron. He made his first recording at the age of ten, and went on to record extensively for a number of high-profile labels including Melodia, Teldec and EMI, earning among others, Grammy (2004) and Gramophone Artist of the Year (2002) awards.

Tireless in his search for new means of creative expression, Maxim Vengerov has let himself be inspired by many different styles of music, including baroque, jazz and rock and in 2007 followed in the footsteps of his mentors, the late Mstislav Rostropovich and Daniel Barenboim and turned his attention to conducting. He furthered his studies with Yuri Simonov, an exponent of the Russian-German conducting school, and graduated as a conductor with a diploma of excellence from the Moscow Institute of Ippolitov-Ivanov in June 2014.

In the last few seasons Maxim Vengerov performed as soloist and/or conductor, with many major orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Toronto and Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, often performing a major violin concerto in the first half and conducting a symphonic work in the second, including Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherezade, in which he also performs the violin solos.

2013 saw the launch of the annual Vengerov Festival in Tokyo with a series of recitals, concerts and Masterclasses, which combine his passion for conducting, performing and teaching. Based on the Tokyo Success the Vengerov Festival starts in Tel Aviv in September 2014.

The Barbican Centre London featured Maxim Vengerov in five different programs as Artist in Residence during the 2013/14 season, showcasing his unique versatility as an artist. Other highlights included a major tour of 21 concerts as soloist and conductor with the Polish Chamber Orchestra spanning Europe, the Middle and Far East, a tour in China with Maestro Long Yu and numerous recitals around the globe devoted to classical and romantic virtuoso repertoire. That season he also accepted the position as Artist in Residence with the Oxford Phil’ with whom he toured in the UK and recorded the Brahms concerto and Mendelssohn Scottish Symphony, to be released in 2015 on the VMV label (Vengerov Music Vision).

As well as recitals in Europe and South America, other highlights of the 2014/15 season will include Maxim Vengerov opening Shanghai’s newest Symphony Hall alongside Maestro Long Yu and Lang Lang, as well as opening the concert seasons of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra with Long Yu and the Orchestre de Paris with Pavo Jarvi. In the spring of 2015 he will also tour and record with the Orchestra National de France and Myung-Whun Chung in Europe.

As one of Maxim Vengerov’s greatest passions is the teaching and encouraging of young talent, he has held various teaching positions around the world and is currently Ambassador and visiting Professor of the Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland (IMMA) as well as Menuhin Professor at the Royal Academy of Music London. Furthermore, in keeping with his belief that competitions are a platform to launch young artists’ international careers, Maxim Vengerov has served on numerous juries including the Donatella Flick conducting competition, the Menuhin Violin Competition and in May 2013 conducted the finals during the Montreal International Violin Competition. Owing to his success as chairman of the prestigious Wieniawski Violin Competition in 2011, where he auditioned live over 200 musicians in nine world capitals, Maxim Vengerov has been unprecedentedly re-elected to return as chairman in 2016.

In 1997 Maxim Vengerov became the first classical musician to be appointed International Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF, which has enabled him to continue to inspire children worldwide through music. In this role he has performed for underprivileged children and communities in Uganda, Thailand, the Balkans and Turkey, whilst helping to raise funds for many UNICEF-assisted programs. He is also a patron of the MIAGI project in South Africa, which connects children of different ethnic backgrounds through music.

Maxim Vengerov has received prestigious fellowships and honours from a number of institutions, including the Royal Academy of Music and orders of merit from both Romania and Germany’s Saarland, and in 2012 was awarded an Honorary Visiting Fellowship at Trinity College Oxford.

Maxim Vengerov has been profiled in a series of documentaries, including Playing by Heart, which was recorded by Channel Four Television and screened at the Cannes Television Festival in 1999, and Living the Dream, which was released worldwide and received the Gramophone Award for Best Documentary 2008.

In the near future Maxim Vengerov is planning to launch his own recording label VMV (Vengerov Music Vision).

Maxim Vengerov plays the ex-Kreutzer Stradivari (1727

Pavel Vernikov on the Russian-Israeli National Channel and in 2008 recorded an album with the Israeli poet Natan Zach and a special Ensemble.

Shira participates regularly in numerous Chamber Music activities and concerts, and accompanies singers at the Israeli Opera and at the Acting Studio of Beit Zvi (Israel). She took part in various Master Classes with Pnina Salzman (Israel), Pavel Gililov (Russia), Albert Tiu (U.S.A/New Zealand), Joanna McGgregor (England) and the Tel-Hai Piano Master-Classes (Israel).

She is a scholarships recipient of the Stony Brook University, New York and The Tel-Aviv Music Academy, Israel. Lately she has recorded a number of works composed by her. Born in 1981, Shira started taking piano lessons at the age of four. She studied in the Tel Aviv Conservatory with Ms.

Adina Wertheim; obtained B.Mus Degree of the Tel Aviv Music Academy with Michael Boguslavsky and Mark Shaviner and completed her M. Mus studies at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and Dance with Vadim. Monastirsky.

Shira is currently studying with Prof. Gilbert Kalish for a doctoral degree at Stony Brook University, New York.

The Menuhin Academy Soloists is an outstanding chamber ensemble, known for its technical brilliance and for a fresh and spontaneous musicality. Its large repertoire spans works from the 17th to the 20th century, and the versatile ensemble performs in numerous combinations from duos to full chamber orchestra.

Regular tours take the Menuhin Academy Soloists to the major musical centres, such as the Royal Festival Hall London, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées Paris, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Edinburgh Festival, the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, as well as to several countries in Europe and South America, to the United States, to Canada, to Japan, and China.

Vag Papian is a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory where he studied under Michael Voskresensky and St Petersburg Conservatory, as a student of Ilia Musin. In 1984 Valery Gergiev invited Papian to become Associate Conductor of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra. He then became Artistic Director and Principle Conductor of the orchestra.

He conducted more than two hundred performances with the orchestra.At the same time Vag Papian conducted the Armenian National Opera. He immigrated to Israel in 1990 and since then was associate conductor with the Beer-Sheva Sinfonietta and was guest conductor of the Israel Camerata.

His international tours as a pianist include concerts in Basel, Barcelona, Geneva, Toronto, Ottawa, New York, as well as tours in South America and Far East. Mr Papian has conducted the English Chamber Orchestra in London, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the Jerusalem, Moscow, Belgrade, Haifa, Rishon LeZion, Houston, Malmö and Trondheim symphony orchestras and Houston Festival Orchestra and Suwon Festival in Korea, the Enesco Festivaland the Vienna Boys Choir. Mr.

Papian is a professor at the Buchman-Mehta School of Music at the Tel Aviv University. Mr. Papian has made a number of recordings for Melodiya Label and for EMI with Maxim Vengerov.

Within a short period of time, the ISO found itself at the top of the artistic pyramid amidst the leading and innovative musical institutes in Israel. Of the music created by its Israel-born and relatively newcomers the ISO has created a “personal” sound, warmly accepted in Israel and on the international arenas by the audience and by the music critics alike.

The ISO offers a variety of vocal works, operas and symphonic works from all the musical eras, performed by internationally acclaimed conductors and soloists, in subscription series, family concerts, and special performances for young people and for senior members of the music loving community. ISO serves its nearest – Rishon-LeZion – community, in public events, open-air concerts, and most of all in hundreds of performances in kinder gardens and schools.

For its outstanding achievement and excellence in performance, dissemination and advancement of original Israeli works, the ISO was awarded the ACUM Prize. The ISO won audience’s and professional music critics’ appreciation in its concert tours in Europe and the recent tour to Brazil and the Argentine. The ISO is a frequent partner in national event like the “Israel Music Week”, the Tel-Hai International Piano Master Classes, the International Spring Festival etc.

The ISO has released CDs, recorded live which include some premiere recordings of new Israeli symphonic works.

Music Director: James Judd Director General: Ariel Cohen