I was born and raised in the city of Beersheba, at the southern part of Israel. I play all sorts of plucked instruments like mandolins and lutes of several sizes and forms.

 

How did I find my particular path? or perhaps, how did it find me?

 

When I was 8 years old, my good parents looked for an afternoon activity for me, and after trying all sorts of gym oriented classes (which were totally not for me!) I was asked which musical instrument would I like to play? Being the youngest in a family of five siblings, all teenagers of the 1990s, Rock & Pop music was something very regular in the house. My answer was therefore crystal clear: Electric Guitar!

 

However, at the local conservatory they thought I was too young and offered me the mandolin instead. "It's just like a guitar" they said, "besides, you'd love it, we have a brilliant orchestra!". Which turned out to be totally true, the Beersheba Mandolin Orchestra is to whom I definitely owe my basic musical education and a huge amount of fun too!

 

The years went by and my time has come to join the rows of the IDF for the compulsory service of three years. It was at that point where I received a special recognition from the Ministry of Education which allowed me to combine academic studies and musical career development throughout my military service.

 

In the mind provoking place called the Jerusalem Academy of Music, including a dance faculty and departments for both Western and Eastern music, I moved on studying orchestra conducting as well, and with a generous scholarship from the Erasmus Mundus foundation, I soon found myself in the lute class of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. The time in Jerusalem and Brussels was some of the best I had, I won several international prizes and competitions, and met some of the most influential people in my life.

 

Among all the Israeli foundations which supported me on my way, I am especially grateful to the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Zefunot Culture (Secrets of Culture), the Chais Family Foundation and the Edna Sarny Foundation.

 

Discovering Europe was (and still is) an amazing experience for me. I was lucky to have been invited to join Daniel Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan for some extensive touring during 2007-2009 and I've stayed closely and actively associated with this fantastic project till 2012. Since then I moved my base to Germany and graduated another Master program at the Musik-Hochschule of Hanover, while being active in further social-musical projects as Live Music Now (Yehudi Menuhin) and Rhapsody in School (Lars Vogt). Recently, I've started another bachelor program in the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, studying the historical harp.

 

I try to live that seldom balance between solo career, conducting engagements, activity as a continuo player in different baroque formations (mostly on archlute or baroque guitar), and my passion for world music of different sorts, especially in dialog with the different cultures and religions.

 

Although I sometimes carry my instruments on my back, they are actually the ones going before me, leading me to fascinating places and mesmerizing moments.

 

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