Assaff Weisman, piano
As first prize winner in the 2006 Iowa International Piano Competition, pianist Assaff Weisman has travelled around the world performing at major concert halls and as soloist with numerous orchestras. His radio credits include WQXR’s “Young Artist Showcase” and “The Voice of Music” in Israel, as well as multiple appearances on WGBH radio in Boston, where he has recorded repertoire ranging from Bach to André Previn. His 2002 release of an all-Schubert recording for Yamaha’s “NYC Rising Star” series quickly became one of its best sellers. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Weisman has collaborated with Isidore Cohen, Peter Wiley, and Michael Tree, among others, and performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Campos do Jordão (Brazil), Verbier (Switzerland), among many others. He is a founding member and the Executive Director of the award-winning Israeli Chamber Project, with which he has toured since 2008.
Mr. Weisman is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees as a student of Herbert Stessin, and where he now is a member of the Evening Division piano faculty. Prior to his studies in New York, he studied with Professor Victor Derevianko in Israel where he was a winner of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarships. Mr. Weisman is a Yamaha Artist.
Itamar Zorman, violin
Awarded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award for 2014, violinist Itamar Zorman is the winner of the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia. Mr. Zorman has performed as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician at the leading concert halls and series around the world, as well as performed at leading festivals such as the Verbier, Marlboro, Rheingau and Radio France Festivals. In addition to being a member of the Israeli Chamber project, he is a member of the Lysander Piano Trio, which won the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Competition.
Mr. Zorman studied at the Jerusalem Academy, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and the Kronberg Academy, working with Sylvia Rosenberg, Christian Tetzlaff and Mauricio Fuks. He is currently a Visiting Guest Artist at the Eastman School of Music. Mr. Zorman plays a 1734 Guarneri Del Gesù violin from the collection of Yehuda Zisapel.
Guy Ben-Ziony, viola
As a founding member of the Israeli Chamber Project, violist Guy Ben-Ziony has collaborated with many of Israel’s most celebrated composers and explored innovative cross-disciplinary projects in Germany, among them with the dance company Sasha Waltz & Guests. He is a frequent guest leader with many of Europe’s leading chamber orchestras, and his debut solo CD, Monodialogue, was released to great critical acclaim.
He has taken part in international music festivals, playing alongside artists such as Gidon Kremer, Lisa Batiashvili, Christian Tetzlaff and Menachem Pressler. He was also a member of the Zapolsky String Quartet and the Waldstein Ensemble Wien. From 2006-2017, Guy was a viola professor at the University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig. In 2017-2018, he was a member of the renowned Pacifica String Quartet and Visiting Professor at the Jacobs School of Music.
Mr. Ben-Ziony grew up in Israel’s scenic Jezreel Valley. After seeing The Waltz King, the Walt Disney film about Johann Strauss, he wanted nothing more than to play the violin, but soon switched to the viola, finding his true voice, and studied with some of Israel’s leading teachers, including Chaim Taub, Gad Lewertoff and David Chen.
Tibi Cziger, clarinet
Cited as an “exciting soloist” by the New York Times, Israeli clarinetist Tibi Cziger is a passionate soloist and a sought-after chamber musician. He has performed a vast amount of chamber music and recital literature in concert, television and radio broadcasts around the world. He is the artistic director and founder of the Israeli Chamber Project and is a member of the Israeli Contemporary Players. He is a regular participant in festivals such as Marlboro Music Festival, Musique en Brionnais, Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival and Ottawa ChamberFest. In addition to performing as a soloist with numerous orchestras, he has served as the principal clarinetist of the Israeli Camerata Orchestra and co-principal at the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.
Mr. Cziger is a winner of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarships and holds an Artist Diploma from the Juilliard School, a Masters degree from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor’s degree from the Tel Aviv University. His principal mentors include Charles Neidich, Yehuda Gilad, Richard Lesser and Itzhak Kazzap.
He serves on the faculty of the Buchman-Mehta School of Music (Tel Aviv University), the Israeli Conservatory and the Jerusalem Music Center. Mr. Cziger is a Selmer-Paris artist. He resides in the Tel Aviv, with his wife, cellist Michal Korman, and their three children.
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