Chen Halevi

Last updated

Chen Halevi is an Israeli clarinetist, a native of the Negev desert. He studied clarinet with Yitzchak Kazap and Richard Lesser and later went on to study chamber music with Mordechai Rechtman and Chaim Taub.

Contents

Debut

Halevi debuted with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta. [1] He has since performed with several orchestras across the world, including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the European Soloists, the Heilbronn Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Virtuosi, the Jerusalem Radio Orchestra, the MDR Philharmonic Leipzig, the NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, and the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.

Career

Halevi is considered one of the world's leading virtuoso clarinetists—playing recitals, concertos, and chamber music with equal success. [1] He is known for an impressive repertoire ranging from the most difficult contemporary music to early music on authentic ‘period’ instruments. [1] Haaretz wrote: “ This boy is blessed with a wonderful fusion of artistic musicality and amazing playing technique, all in the service of the muses.” [1]

A frequent participant in summer festivals, Halevi has appeared at the Marlboro, Ravinia, and Santa Fe Festivals in the United States as well as European appearances at Schleswig Holstein, Colmar, Forcalquier, Prussia Cove, Davos, Rolandseck, Aldebburgh and Verbier Chamber Music Festivals, as well as the PMF Festival in Japan and the Perth International Arts Festival.

A great lover of chamber music, Halevi has performed with Pinchas Zukerman and Christoph Eschenbach, and numerous well-known string quartets including the Keller, Szymanowski, Fine arts, Miro, Prazac, St. Lawrence, Arcanto, Vogler, and Kronos Quartets. His close ties with composers have led him to perform a great number of works by, amongst others, Luciano Berio, György Kurtág, Magnus Lindberg, Osvaldo Golijov, Yan Maresz, Michael Jarrell, Brian Ferneyhough, Marco Stroppa, Bruno Mantovani and Thomas Adès. He is a dedicatee of a cycle of pieces by Denis Cohen, including Nodus for solo clarinet, Ombre for clarinet and electronics, and soft machine for clarinet and cello. Additionally, has performed Les asperges de la lune for solo clarinet by Sven-Ingo Koch, a clarinet trio by Lior Navok, and premiered Sven-Ingo Koch's Doppelgänger, a concerto for clarinet and orchestra.

Projects and Teaching

Halevi is now working on a recording project presenting an anthology of 20th-century music for clarinet the project includes his selections of the solo, chamber music, concerto, and electronic works. He is currently the Clarinet Professor at the Trossingen Hochschule fur Musik in Germany—traveling around the world to give master classes on teaching and playing. Since 2007 he has been a faculty member in the summer master classes at the Banff Centre. [1]

In 2007, Halevi founded ClaRecords to commission, produce, and record new pieces from today's leading composers as well as young and upcoming ones. ClaRecords also works with other modern art forms to stimulate dialogue between different modes of expression in the 21st century. In its first year, Clarecords had commissioned five new pieces and made a music video in 3D computer animation.

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Chen Halevi Biography - The Banff Centre". Archived from the original on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2009-04-05.

Related Research Articles

Shulamit Ran is an Israeli-American composer. She moved from Israel to New York City at 14, as a scholarship student at the Mannes College of Music. Her Symphony (1990) won her the Pulitzer Prize for Music. In this regard, she was the second woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, the first being Ellen Taaffe Zwilich in 1983. Ran was a professor of music composition at the University of Chicago from 1973 to 2015. She has performed as a pianist in Israel, Europe and the U.S., and her compositional works have been performed worldwide by a wide array of orchestras and chamber groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erkki-Sven Tüür</span> Estonian composer

Erkki-Sven Tüür is an Estonian composer.

James Ehnes, is Canadian concert violinist and violist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Shifrin</span> American classical clarinetist (born 1950)

David Shifrin is an American classical clarinetist and artistic director.

Derek Bermel is an American composer, clarinetist and conductor whose music blends various facets of world music, funk and jazz with largely classical performing forces and musical vocabulary. He is the recipient of various awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the American Academy in Rome's Rome Prize awarded to artists for a year-long residency in Rome.

Philip Cashian is an English composer. He is the head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giora Feidman</span> Argentine-born Israeli clarinetist

Giora Feidman is an Argentine-born Israeli clarinetist who specializes in klezmer music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Holt</span> English composer

Simon Holt is an English composer.

Sean Osborn is a former clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and a regular substitute in the clarinet section of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He has been a student of Stanley Hasty, Frank Kowalsky, and Eric Mandat.

Matthew John Hindson AM is an Australian composer.

Roberto Sierra is a Puerto Rican composer of contemporary classical music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Fröst</span> Swedish clarinetist and conductor

Martin Fröst is a Swedish clarinetist and conductor. As a clarinetist, he performs internationally and is considered one of the most renowned instrumental soloists ever.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon Kam</span> Musical artist

Sharon Kam ; born August 11, 1971, is an Israeli–German clarinetist. She won the ARD International Music Competition in 1992.

Håkan Rosengren is a Swedish clarinet virtuoso, active in the United States and Europe.

Jon Manasse is an American clarinetist.

Philip Bračanin is an Australian composer and musicologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yona Ettlinger</span> German clarinetist (1924–1981)

Yona Ettlinger was a clarinetist who played and taught in Israel, France and England. Ettlinger is considered a prominent classical clarinetist of his generation, and one of Israel's notable instrumentalists. His musicianship and unique sound influenced the art of clarinet playing in Israel and Europe in the second half of the 20th century. Many clarinet soloists and orchestra players of different countries were among his students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayal Adler</span> Israeli composer

Ayal Adler, is an Israeli composer. Active internationally, his works are continuously performed worldwide. Serves as Associate Professor in composition and theory at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Recipient of numerous awards, including: two Prime- Minister Awards for Composers; Two Acum Prizes, and the first prize at the RMN International Composition Competition in London. Serves as a Board member of the Israeli Composers' League.

Allan Gordon Bell, is a Canadian contemporary classical composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Marc Fessard</span> French classical clarinetist

Jean-Marc Fessard is a French classical clarinetist.