Violin
Gil Shaham is one of the foremost violinists of our time, combining flawless technique with inimitable warmth and a generosity of spirit. He is sought after throughout the world for concerto appearances with leading orchestras and conductors, and he regularly gives recital and ensemble appearances on the great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.
This season Mr. Shaham is continuing his long-term exploration of "Violin Concertos of the 1930s," with performances of Barber's Violin Concerto with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Virginia Symphony; Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto with the New World Symphony; and the Hartmann, Berg, and Stravinsky concertos with the orchestras of New York, London, and Atlanta, respectively. In October Mr. Shaham will bring Brahms' Violin Concerto to Carnegie Hall with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and later in the season will reprise the concerto with the orchestras of San Francisco, Boston, and Delaware. This fall will also see him exploring several of Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin on a U.S. recital tour.
Hebrew Melodies, Mr. Shaham's new recording with his sister, pianist Orli Shaham, on his Canary Classics label, features both traditional and modern Jewish music, including the world-premiere of Israeli composer Avner Dorman's new work Niggunim, a work praised by The New York Times for its "explosive energy." He has also worked with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, and his brother-in-law, conductor David Robertson.
Last season, Mr. Shaham launched the "Violin Concertos of the 1930s" project with 34 live performances, including appearances with the Chicago Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. In September 2010, he was a special guest artist for the Chamber Music Society's season-opening concert at Lincoln Center along with his wife. Mr. Shaham appeared on PBS with Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Ax, Alan Gilbert, and the New York Philharmonic for Carnegie Hall's 120th anniversary concert in May 2011, performing Beethoven's Triple Concerto.
Mr. Shaham has more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs to his name, including bestsellers that have appeared on record charts in the U.S. and abroad. These recordings have earned prestigious awards, including multiple Grammys, a Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d'Or, and Gramophone Editor's Choice. His recent recordings are produced on the Canary Classics label, which he founded in 2004. They comprise Haydn Violin Concertos and Mendelssohn's Octet with Sejong Soloists; Sarasate: Virtuoso Violin Works with Adele Anthony, Akira Eguchi and Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León; Elgar's Violin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and David Zinman; The Butterfly Lovers and Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the Singapore Symphony; Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio in A with Yefim Bronfman and cellist Truls Mork; The Prokofiev Album and Mozart in Paris, both with Orli Shaham; and The Fauré Album with Akira Eguchi and cellist Brinton Smith.
Born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1971, Mr. Shaham moved with his parents to Israel, where he began violin studies with Samuel Bernstein of the Rubin Academy of Music at age 7, receiving annual scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. In 1981, while studying with Haim Taub in Jerusalem, he made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic. That same year he began his studies with Dorothy DeLay and Jens Ellerman at Aspen. In 1982, after taking first prize in Israel's Claremont Competition, he became a scholarship student at Juilliard, where he worked with DeLay and Hyo Kang. He also studied at Columbia University.
Mr. Shaham was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990, and in 2008 he received the coveted Avery Fisher Award. He plays the 1699 "Countess Polignac" Stradivarius.