KESHET EILON

Shlomo Mintz

Violinist and conductor, patron of Keshet Eilon Shlomo Mintz is regarded as one of the foremost musicians of our time. He was a pupil of Ilona Feher in Israel and later of Dorothy Delay at Juilliard under the personal guidance of Isaac Stern. He began his career at age 11 as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Mintz regularly appears with the world’s leading orchestras under the batons of Barenboim, Abbado, Muti, Giulini, Steinberg, Mehta and many others. He maintains an active recording schedule with the BMG, Sony and Erato labels and is a three-time winner of the Grand Prix du Disque. As the Israel Chamber Orchestra’s artistic advisor and conductor in 1989-93, Mintz toured with the orchestra extensively and recorded all of Vivaldi’s violin concerti. He was principal guest conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Maastricht. He is a recipient of the prestigious Sienna Premio Accademia Musicale Chigana. Shlomo Mintz served as chairman of the jury of the 13th Wieniawski, Poznan, and the Sion Valais international violin competitions.

Felix Andrievsky

Born in the USSR, where he studied in the Moscow Central Music School and received a doctorate at the Gnessin Institute under Abram Yampolsky and Yuri Yankelevich, Felix Andrievsky became one of the leading violin teachers in Russia. His pupils have won international competitions and became critically acclaimed musicians worldwide. A faculty member of London's Royal College of Music, Andrievsky has also taught at the Jerusalem Music Academy and the Rubin Academy, Tel Aviv University, and served as professor and director of studies at the International Menuhin Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland. He has served on juries in international competitions; as director and professor of summer programs in England, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, France, Korea and Australia; and as a lecturer in various music academies and in ESTA.

Cihat Askin

Born in Istanbul, Cihat Askin studied with Ayhan Turan at the Turkish State Music Conservatory of Istanbul Technical University, graduating in 1989. He completed his studies in London, working with Rodney Friend at the Royal College of Music and Yfrah Neaman at City University (1992-96, doctorate program). Winner of the Istanbul Philharmonic Society Award, he participated in the Menuhin International Violin Competition in Folkstone, where he was named best interpreter of Bartok. He was also awarded the Outstanding Merit Prize in the Carl Flesch Violin Competition. A noted promoter and broadcaster of modern Turkish music, he has recorded extensively for Hungaroton, Kalan Muzik/Discovery, Meridian, CPO and UPR Classics. Cihat Askin is professor of violin and head of strings at the Turkish State Music Conservatory.

Mauricio Fuks

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Mauricio Fuks studied violin with Ylia Fidion, Joseph Fuchs, Ivan Galamian and Jascha Heifetz. A 1st prizewinner of the NY Young Concert Artists Competition in 1964, he launched a distinguished international career as concertmaster, chamber musician and soloist throughout Europe, North and South America. Now devoted entirely to pedagogy, Mauricio Fuks has been visiting professor at the Yehudi Menuhin School, London; University of Limerick, Ireland; Hochschule fur Musik Hanns Eisler, Berlin; Reina Sofia School, Madrid; Royal Conservatory, Hague; and Royal Academy of Music, London, where he was appointed Honorary Member in 1999. He regularly gives masterclasses at the Mozarteum, Salzburg; Sarasota Music Festival; Britten-Pears School, Aldeburgh; Oxford Summer Festival, Quebec; and La Ferme de Villefavard, France, and has served as a juror in numerous international competitions.

Vadim Gluzman

One of the most dynamic and compelling violinists of his generation, Vadim Gluzman has appeared in Carnegie Hall with the Columbus Symphony and has performed, among others, with the Chicago, Cincinnati and Detroit Symphonies, München and Dresden Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Tokyo Symphony under the batons of the late Yehudi Menuhin, Neeme Jarvi, James DePreist, Dmitri Kitajenko, and Junichi Hirokami. Born in the Ukraine, Gluzman moved to Israel in 1990. He studied with Dorothy DeLay, Arkady Fomin, Zakhar Bron and Yair Kless. Winner of the prestigious Henryk Szeryng Foundation 1994 Career Award, he plays the 1690 “ex-Leopold Auer” Stradivari on loan to him from the Stradivari Society of Chicago. He records exclusively for BIS and is a faculty member of the Chicago College of the Performing Arts, Roosevelt University.

Elena Mazor • Moscow-born Elena Mazor began her violin studies under Zinaida Gilels and graduated from the Gnessin Music High School for Gifted Pupils under Irina Svetlova. Thereafter, she studied under Victor Pikaizenand Semion Snitkovsky at the Tchaikovsky Consevatory in Moscow, graduating with the highest degree. A member of the Gnessin School violin faculty for 12 years, Elena Mazor immigrated to Israel in 1990 and now teaches at the Israel Conservatory of Music, Tel Aviv, and the Givatayim Conservatory. She has served as a judge for America-Israel Cultural Foundation violin scholarship awards and for the acceptance of violinists in the Jerusalem Winter Festival international orchestra. She is also a member of the Keshet Eilon faculty at the Seminars for Israeli Violin Students and Teachers which take place twice a year.

György Pauk

Recognized as one of the leading violinists, Budapest-born György Pauk studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Before settling in London in 1961, he won 1st prize at the Paganini, Thibaud and Munich international competitions. He made his London debut with the London Symphony under Lorin Maazel and his U.S. debut with the Chicago Symphony at the invitation of George Solti. Touring Europe, U.S., Australia, Japan and South America, he appeared with leading orchestras and conductors, including Haitink, Boulez, Dohnanyi, Rozdestvensky, Rattle and Davis. His wide-ranging repertoire includes 20th century masterpieces and world premieres by composers such as Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Schnittke, Davies and Tippett. His recordings include award-winning releases. Mr. Pauk is a noted Bartok interpreter. He is a professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

Itzhak Rashkovsky

Music director of Keshet Eilon and internationally renowned Russian-Israeli violin teacher, Itzhak Rashkovsky was a driving force behind the founding of the Keshet Eilon Mastercourse. He received a master’s degree at the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel Aviv, where he studied with Yair Kless. He has appeared as a soloist and a chamber music player in many countries. As professor of violin at the Royal College of Music, London, Itzhak Rashkovsky has come to be one of the leading and most sought-after teachers in England. His students, who come from all over the world, are winners of national and international competitions. He has given masterclasses in Europe, Israel and the U.S. and has been a juror of numerous international violin competitions. In 1998 he was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Music, London, in recognition of his services to music.

David Russell

Violinist David Russell enjoys an international reputation as a violin pedagogue. He has served for twenty-three years on the violin faculties of the Cleveland Institute of Music and ENCORE School for Strings (U.S.). Mr. Russell has performed extensively in recital and in chamber music, and has given masterclasses in the U.S., Canada, Israel and China. He has been a member of the distinguished jury of the International Violin Competition of Sion-Valais in Switzerland. Mr. Russell’s students have performed as soloists at venues such as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Carnegie Hall. He is founder and former artistic director of the Pensacola Chamber Music Festival in Florida, and has taught at Ivan Galamian’s Meadowmount School of Music.

Ani Schnarch

Romanian-Israeli-British violinist, winner of the Francois Shapiro and Mozart Memorial Prizes, Ani Schnarch is internationally regarded as one of the most exciting and versatile violinists of her generation. She is a faculty member and a founder of the Keshet Eilon Violin Mastercourse. A student of F. Andrievsky, she has performed with major orchestras and in recital at the main venues in England, France, Israel, Italy, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain and the U.S., and has recorded for radio and television, including a unique BBC series of all the works for violin and piano by Bela Bartok. She has played at the Bath, Bergen, Lake District, Windsor and Bowdoin music festivals. Ani Schnarch is in great demand as a professor of violin at the Royal College of Music, London, gives masterclasses worldwide, and has served as a juror in numerous international competitions.

Hagai Shaham

Internationally recognized as one of the most exciting violinists to emerge from Israel in recent years, Hagai Shaham studied with Ilona Feher and was awarded scholarships by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. He won first prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 1990. He appeared with the BBC, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, SWF Baden-Baden, RTE National )Ireland), Belgian National, Taipei Symphony, the English and the Israel Chamber Orchestras. Festivals and venues in which Hagai Shaham has appeared include Beethoven Halle, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Vienna Musikverein, Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Schleswig-Holstein, Wigmore Hall, Reingau, Bodensee, Montpellier, Festival de Mer, Stavanger, Kuhmo and Israel Festivals. He has recorded seven CDs for Hyperion (Hubay, Bloch and Grieg). Other labels include Decca, Avie and Chandos. He teaches at the Academy of Music in Jerusalem.

Haim Taub

Israeli violinist Haim Taub was concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra from 1969 until his retirement in 1988. A student of Oedoen Partos in Tel Aviv Academy and later of Ivan Galamian at the Juilliard School of Music, New York, he became a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, later returning to Israel where he joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and performed in Israel and abroad as a soloist with the Philharmonic and with many other Israeli orchestras. Taub was a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Tel Aviv String Quartet with whom he recorded and toured extensively. He is regarded as one of the leading Israeli violin teachers, and many of his students have gained international recognition as soloists, chamber music players and members of major orchestras worldwide.

Distinguished Guest Artist Ida Haendel

Ida Haendel

Acknowledged as one of the outstanding violinists of our time, Ida Haendel was born in Poland and studied at the Warsaw Conservatoire and in Paris with Carl Flesch and George Enescu. She began her professional career as a child prodigy at the Queen's Hall in London under the baton of Sir Henry Wood, playing the Brahms Violin Concerto. Since then, she has performed with all the major orchestras worldwide and appears regularly at major festivals such as Edinburgh and the BBC Proms. In 1982 she was awarded the Sibelius Medal in recognition of her distinguished performances of his concerto. She was awarded the C.B.E. in the 1991 New Year's Honours List. Ida Haendel records for EMI and Decca. Her recording of Bach's solo works was released on the Testament label in 1996. The year 2000 saw the release of her chamber music recordings with Vladimir Ashkenazy by Decca, for which she has received a Diapason d'Or award. Ida Haendel was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Music, London, in 2000 in recognition of her outstanding services to music.

	Shlomo Mintz Violinist and conductor, patron of Keshet Eilon Shlomo Mintz is regarded as one of the foremost musicians of our time. He was a pupil of Ilona Feher in Israel and later of Dorothy Delay at Juilliard under the personal guidance of Isaac Stern. He began his career at age 11 as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Mintz regularly appears with the world’s leading orchestras under the batons of Barenboim, Abbado, Muti, Giulini, Steinberg, Mehta and many others. He maintains an active recording schedule with the BMG, Sony and Erato labels and is a three-time winner of the Grand Prix du Disque. As the Israel Chamber Orchestra’s artistic advisor and conductor in 1989-93, Mintz toured with the orchestra extensively and recorded all of Vivaldi’s violin concerti. He was principal guest conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Maastricht. He is a recipient of the prestigious Sienna Premio Accademia Musicale Chigana. Shlomo Mintz served as chairman of the jury of the 13th Wieniawski, Poznan, and the Sion Valais international violin competitions.
	Felix Andrievsky Born in the USSR, where he studied in the Moscow Central Music School and received a doctorate at the Gnessin Institute under Abram Yampolsky and Yuri Yankelevich, Felix Andrievsky became one of the leading violin teachers in Russia. His pupils have won international competitions and became critically acclaimed musicians worldwide. A faculty member of London's Royal College of Music, Andrievsky has also taught at the Jerusalem Music Academy and the Rubin Academy, Tel Aviv University, and served as professor and director of studies at the International Menuhin Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland. He has served on juries in international competitions; as director and professor of summer programs in England, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, France, Korea and Australia; and as a lecturer in various music academies and in ESTA.
	Cihat Askin Born in Istanbul, Cihat Askin studied with Ayhan Turan at the Turkish State Music Conservatory of Istanbul Technical University, graduating in 1989. He completed his studies in London, working with Rodney Friend at the Royal College of Music and Yfrah Neaman at City University (1992-96, doctorate program). Winner of the Istanbul Philharmonic Society Award, he participated in the Menuhin International Violin Competition in Folkstone, where he was named best interpreter of Bartok. He was also awarded the Outstanding Merit Prize in the Carl Flesch Violin Competition. A noted promoter and broadcaster of modern Turkish music, he has recorded extensively for Hungaroton, Kalan Muzik/Discovery, Meridian, CPO and UPR Classics. Cihat Askin is professor of violin and head of strings at the Turkish State Music Conservatory.
	Mauricio Fuks Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Mauricio Fuks studied violin with Ylia Fidion, Joseph Fuchs, Ivan Galamian and Jascha Heifetz. A 1st prizewinner of the NY Young Concert Artists Competition in 1964, he launched a distinguished international career as concertmaster, chamber musician and soloist throughout Europe, North and South America. Now devoted entirely to pedagogy, Mauricio Fuks has been visiting professor at the Yehudi Menuhin School, London; University of Limerick, Ireland; Hochschule fur Musik Hanns Eisler, Berlin; Reina Sofia School, Madrid; Royal Conservatory, Hague; and Royal Academy of Music, London, where he was appointed Honorary Member in 1999. He regularly gives masterclasses at the Mozarteum, Salzburg; Sarasota Music Festival; Britten-Pears School, Aldeburgh; Oxford Summer Festival, Quebec; and La Ferme de Villefavard, France, and has served as a juror in numerous international competitions.
	Vadim Gluzman One of the most dynamic and compelling violinists of his generation, Vadim Gluzman has appeared in Carnegie Hall with the Columbus Symphony and has performed, among others, with the Chicago, Cincinnati and Detroit Symphonies, München and Dresden Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Tokyo Symphony under the batons of the late Yehudi Menuhin, Neeme Jarvi, James DePreist, Dmitri Kitajenko, and Junichi Hirokami. Born in the Ukraine, Gluzman moved to Israel in 1990. He studied with Dorothy DeLay, Arkady Fomin, Zakhar Bron and Yair Kless. Winner of the prestigious Henryk Szeryng Foundation 1994 Career Award, he plays the 1690 “ex-Leopold Auer” Stradivari on loan to him from the Stradivari Society of Chicago. He records exclusively for BIS and is a faculty member of the Chicago College of the Performing Arts, Roosevelt University.
	Elena Mazor • Moscow-born Elena Mazor began her violin studies under Zinaida Gilels and graduated from the Gnessin Music High School for Gifted Pupils under Irina Svetlova. Thereafter, she studied under Victor Pikaizenand Semion Snitkovsky at the Tchaikovsky Consevatory in Moscow, graduating with the highest degree. A member of the Gnessin School violin faculty for 12 years, Elena Mazor immigrated to Israel in 1990 and now teaches at the Israel Conservatory of Music, Tel Aviv, and the Givatayim Conservatory. She has served as a judge for America-Israel Cultural Foundation violin scholarship awards and for the acceptance of violinists in the Jerusalem Winter Festival international orchestra. She is also a member of the Keshet Eilon faculty at the Seminars for Israeli Violin Students and Teachers which take place twice a year.
	György Pauk Recognized as one of the leading violinists, Budapest-born György Pauk studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Before settling in London in 1961, he won 1st prize at the Paganini, Thibaud and Munich international competitions. He made his London debut with the London Symphony under Lorin Maazel and his U.S. debut with the Chicago Symphony at the invitation of George Solti. Touring Europe, U.S., Australia, Japan and South America, he appeared with leading orchestras and conductors, including Haitink, Boulez, Dohnanyi, Rozdestvensky, Rattle and Davis. His wide-ranging repertoire includes 20th century masterpieces and world premieres by composers such as Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Schnittke, Davies and Tippett. His recordings include award-winning releases. Mr. Pauk is a noted Bartok interpreter. He is a professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
	Itzhak Rashkovsky Music director of Keshet Eilon and internationally renowned Russian-Israeli violin teacher, Itzhak Rashkovsky was a driving force behind the founding of the Keshet Eilon Mastercourse. He received a master’s degree at the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel Aviv, where he studied with Yair Kless. He has appeared as a soloist and a chamber music player in many countries. As professor of violin at the Royal College of Music, London, Itzhak Rashkovsky has come to be one of the leading and most sought-after teachers in England. His students, who come from all over the world, are winners of national and international competitions. He has given masterclasses in Europe, Israel and the U.S. and has been a juror of numerous international violin competitions. In 1998 he was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Music, London, in recognition of his services to music.
	David Russell Violinist David Russell enjoys an international reputation as a violin pedagogue. He has served for twenty-three years on the violin faculties of the Cleveland Institute of Music and ENCORE School for Strings (U.S.). Mr. Russell has performed extensively in recital and in chamber music, and has given masterclasses in the U.S., Canada, Israel and China. He has been a member of the distinguished jury of the International Violin Competition of Sion-Valais in Switzerland. Mr. Russell’s students have performed as soloists at venues such as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Carnegie Hall. He is founder and former artistic director of the Pensacola Chamber Music Festival in Florida, and has taught at Ivan Galamian’s Meadowmount School of Music.
	Ani Schnarch Romanian-Israeli-British violinist, winner of the Francois Shapiro and Mozart Memorial Prizes, Ani Schnarch is internationally regarded as one of the most exciting and versatile violinists of her generation. She is a faculty member and a founder of the Keshet Eilon Violin Mastercourse. A student of F. Andrievsky, she has performed with major orchestras and in recital at the main venues in England, France, Israel, Italy, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain and the U.S., and has recorded for radio and television, including a unique BBC series of all the works for violin and piano by Bela Bartok. She has played at the Bath, Bergen, Lake District, Windsor and Bowdoin music festivals. Ani Schnarch is in great demand as a professor of violin at the Royal College of Music, London, gives masterclasses worldwide, and has served as a juror in numerous international competitions.
	Hagai Shaham Internationally recognized as one of the most exciting violinists to emerge from Israel in recent years, Hagai Shaham studied with Ilona Feher and was awarded scholarships by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. He won first prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 1990. He appeared with the BBC, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, SWF Baden-Baden, RTE National )Ireland), Belgian National, Taipei Symphony, the English and the Israel Chamber Orchestras. Festivals and venues in which Hagai Shaham has appeared include Beethoven Halle, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Vienna Musikverein, Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Schleswig-Holstein, Wigmore Hall, Reingau, Bodensee, Montpellier, Festival de Mer, Stavanger, Kuhmo and Israel Festivals. He has recorded seven CDs for Hyperion (Hubay, Bloch and Grieg). Other labels include Decca, Avie and Chandos. He teaches at the Academy of Music in Jerusalem.
	Haim Taub Israeli violinist Haim Taub was concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra from 1969 until his retirement in 1988. A student of Oedoen Partos in Tel Aviv Academy and later of Ivan Galamian at the Juilliard School of Music, New York, he became a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, later returning to Israel where he joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and performed in Israel and abroad as a soloist with the Philharmonic and with many other Israeli orchestras. Taub was a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Tel Aviv String Quartet with whom he recorded and toured extensively. He is regarded as one of the leading Israeli violin teachers, and many of his students have gained international recognition as soloists, chamber music players and members of major orchestras worldwide.
Distinguished Guest Artist Ida Haendel
	Ida Haendel Acknowledged as one of the outstanding violinists of our time, Ida Haendel was born in Poland and studied at the Warsaw Conservatoire and in Paris with Carl Flesch and George Enescu. She began her professional career as a child prodigy at the Queen's Hall in London under the baton of Sir Henry Wood, playing the Brahms Violin Concerto. Since then, she has performed with all the major orchestras worldwide and appears regularly at major festivals such as Edinburgh and the BBC Proms. In 1982 she was awarded the Sibelius Medal in recognition of her distinguished performances of his concerto. She was awarded the C.B.E. in the 1991 New Year's Honours List. Ida Haendel records for EMI and Decca. Her recording of Bach's solo works was released on the Testament label in 1996. The year 2000 saw the release of her chamber music recordings with Vladimir Ashkenazy by Decca, for which she has received a Diapason d'Or award. Ida Haendel was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Music, London, in 2000 in recognition of her outstanding services to music.