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Gilad Karni
Violist Gilad Karni, has
been praised for his tone and interpretation throughout
the world. He is a violist that has left his trade-mark
in many international viola competitions, as First
Prize Winner of the Lionel Tertis International
Viola Competition 1994, and Third Prize Winner
(1993) of the ARD Munich International Music Competition.
He has performed as a soloist with orchestras
in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel,
South Africa, Switzerland, and the USA. Other
awards include the Third Prize in the 1992 Bryan
International String Competition (USA), First
Prize in the Israeli Broadcasting Authority Competition
for Best Performance of 1991, the Peter Schidlof
Prize for the Most Beautiful Tone in the 1991
Lionel Tertis Viola Competition (England), and
the Best Interpretation Prize for the commissioned
concerto (by C. He. Joubert) in the 1989 Third
International Maurice Vieux Viola Competition
in France.
His participation in
chamber music festivals include the Bellingham
WA Festival, Dubrovnik Festival, Lapland Fest
(Sweden), Nordic Academy (Denmark), Festival
PRO - Bahnhoff Rolandsek (Germany), Neustadt
Festival (Germany), the Jerusalem Chamber Music
and the Kfar Bloom festivals (Israel), Davos
Music Festival (Switzerland), Kuhmo (Finland)
and the Newport, Santa Fe and La Jolla Chamber
Music Festivals (USA) among others. Special
events in which he has appeared include Isaac
Stern's 70th birthday celebration in Tel-Aviv
and a performance with the Guarneri String Quartet
in Carnegie Hall. In addition, he has been heard
on radio broadcasts in Israel, Germany, France,
Switzerland, South Africa and the USA (WQXR
and National Public Radio.)
Mr. Karni is in his
3rd season as Principal Violist of the Tonhalle
Orchestra Zurich, after serving as Principal
for the past 2 years at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
His vast orchestral experience ranges from being
the youngest member of the New York Philharmonic
Orchestra, which he joined in 1992, to Principal
Violist Positions of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra,
a post he held between 1996-2002, and the Rishon
Le-Zion Symphony Orchestra in Israel. In Berlin,
Mr. Karni is in demand as guest Principal at
orchestras such as the Berlin Staatskapelle
under Barenboim, Berlin Symphony Orchestra,
and Radio Symphony Orchestra, among other European
orchestras. At the invitation of Maestro Claudio
Abbado, he made an appearance as guest Principal
Violist with the Orchestra of a United Europe
in 1991.
A scholarship recipient
of The America-Israel Cultural Foundation (1985-1991),
and an alumnus of the Manhattan School of Music,
Mr. Karni’s teachers included Paul Neubauer,
Chaim Taub and Gad Lewertoff.
As an avid chamber
musician, Mr. Karni has been a member of several
chamber music ensembles, including the Huberman
Quartet, of which he was a founding member.
In 2000 the quartet had its Carnegie Hall debut.
Artists that he has collaborated with include
musicians such as Isaac Stern, Yefim Bronfman,
Guarneri String Quartet, Julian Rachlin, Itamar
Golan, Tabea Zimmerman, Mischa Maisky, Leonidas
Kavakos, Nikolaj Znaider and Gerard Causse to
name a few.
Mr. Karni’s recent
engagements include performances of the Bartok
Viola Concerto in Germany, Switzerland, and
Poland, Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the
Israel Sinfonietta, Wuppertal Symphony and the
Berlin Symphony, and solo appearances alongside
world renowned cellists Yo Yo Ma and Heinrich
Schiff and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. Recent
festivals where he appeared are the Davos, (Switzerland)
and Bastad (Sweden). This season had Mr. Karni
perform Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with the
Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, a world premier of
"ViolAlive" by Gideon Lewinsohn and
the Israel Sinfonietta, Miklos Rozsa viola concerto
with the Budapest Concert Orchestra at the renowned
Spring Festival to mark his 100 year centennial,
and a performance with the Belgrade Philharmonic.
Mr. Karni's future invitations are the Aspen
Festival, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Budapest
Festival Orchestra and BBC Manchester, among
a returning concert with Yo Yo Ma of "Don
Quixote" and the Hartford Symphony.
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