The first mandolin soloist to be nominated for a classical Grammy, Avi Avital has been compared to Andres Segovia for his championship of his instrument and to Jascha Heifetz for his incredible virtuosity. Passionate and “explosively charismatic” (New York Times) in live performance, he is the driving force behind the reinvigoration of the mandolin: for more than two decades he has reshaped the history and the future of his instrument, playing it in the most prestigious halls all over the world. In addition to that, Avi Avital has expanded the mandolin repertoire not only with transcriptions of various pieces, but by commissioning over 100 works for the mandolin including concertos for mandolin and orchestra by Jennifer Higdon, Anna Clyne, Avner Dorman and Giovanni Sollima.

Highlights of the 2024/25 season include performances with Minnesota Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Freiburg Barockorchester, Philharmonia Baroque, Venice Baroque and il pomo d’oro. Avi Avital gives recital and chamber performances with Sebastian Wienand, Ksenija Sidorova, Omer Klein and Brooklyn Rider. He returns to Cadogan & Wigmore Hall London, Philharmonie Berlin, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Aula Magna Sapienza Rome, Amici della Musica Florence, Auditorio Nacional Madrid, City Hall Hong Kong, Orchestra Hall Minnesota & Herbst Hall San Francisco.

Avi Avital’s other recent engagements include Chicago, Seattle, Toronto & Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Los Angeles Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Israel Philharmonic, and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra working with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano, Alan Gilbert, Robert Spano, Osmo Vänskä, Yutaka Sado, Nicholas McGegan, Omer Meir Wellber, Giovanni Antonini, Jonathan Cohen and Ton Koopman.

In 2023, Avi Avital launched his new venture, the “Between Worlds Ensemble” with a three-part residency at Boulez Saal in Berlin and concerts in Bucharest, Warsaw, Hamburg, Ludwigshafen and Antwerp. The ensemble was formed to explore different genres, cultures and musical worlds focusing on different geographical regions and in its first year featured traditional, classical and folk music from the Iberian Peninsula, the Black Sea and South Italy.

Avi Avital’s versatility has led to features as “Portrait Artist” at Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, BOZAR Brussels, Dortmund Konzerthaus and as Artist-in-Residence at the Bodensee Festival and La Jolla Music Society California. He is a regular presence at major festivals such as Aspen, Salzburg, Hollywood Bowl, Tanglewood, Ravenna, MISA Shanghai, Cheltenham, Verbier, Lucerne, Bad Kissingen, Rheingau, Gstaad and Tsinandali.

An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, Avi Avital’s seventh album “Concertos”, recorded with Il Giardino Armonico and Giovanni Antonini, features mandolin concertos by Vivaldi, Hummel, Bach, Barbella and Paisiello. This won an Opus Klassik award in 2024 for Concerto Recording of the Year.

His album “The Art of the Mandolin” (2020) has been received with high praise and top reviews in The Times, Independent, Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine as well as the international press. Previous recordings “Bach” (2019), “Avital meets Avital” (2017), “Vivaldi” (2015), an album of Avital’s own transcriptions of Bach concertos (2012) and “Between Worlds” (2014) also received numerous awards.

Born in Be’er Sheva in southern Israel, Avital began learning the mandolin at the age of eight and soon joined the flourishing mandolin youth orchestra founded and directed by his charismatic teacher, Russian-born violinist Simcha Nathanson. He studied at the Jerusalem Music Academy and the Conservatorio Cesare Pollini in Padua with Ugo Orlandi. He plays on a mandolin made by Israeli luthier Arik Kerman.

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale presents audiences throughout the world with performances that capture the spirit, style, and distinctive sound of early music history. Recognized as “America’s leading historically informed ensemble” (The New York Times), The ensemble performs on period-specific instruments, presenting repertoire ranging from early Baroque to late Romantic, as well as new works and major operatic productions. The ensemble engages audiences through its signature Bay Area series, national and international tours, recordings, commissions, and education programs. Philharmonia was founded by Laurette Goldberg, led by Music Director Laureate Nicholas McGegan for 35 years, and Richard Egarr for the last 4 years.

Philharmonia’s musicians are leaders in historical performance and serve on the faculties of The Juilliard School, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Stanford University. The organization regularly welcomes eminent guest artists including countertenors Tim Mead and Anthony Roth Costanzo, violoncellist Steven Isserlis, and maestros John Butt and Kristian Bezuidenhout. Philharmonia enjoys artistic collaborations with The Juilliard School, Dunedin Consort, and the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), and appears regularly at Lincoln Center, Norfolk Chamber Festival, and Tanglewood. In 2020, Philharmonia presented a fully-staged, reimagined production of Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo directed by Christopher Alden and featuring countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, bass-baritone Davóne Tines, and soprano Lauren Snouffer in eight sold out performances. Following seasons continued with fully-staged productions of Handel works Radamisto and Amadigi di Gaula.

Among the most recorded orchestras in the world, Philharmonia boasts a discography of nearly 50 recordings, including a coveted archival performance of mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson in Berlioz’s Les Nuits D’été, and a GRAMMY®-nominated recording of Haydn symphonies. In 2020, Philharmonia released three groundbreaking recordings: a full collection of commissioned works by Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw, a selection of arias sung by rising star contralto Avery Amereau, and Handel’s Saul with countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen.

Philharmonia’s Jews & Music series has taken audiences on journeys of discovery of Jewish themes that have emerged across music and visual art over time, curated by Jews & Music Scholar in Residence Francesco Spagnolo.

The organization presented more than 100 virtual programs in its 2021-22 season, including the popular Live from Amsterdam with Music Director Richard Egarr, and What’s New and H.I.P. with Tarik O’Regan and Richard Egarr, focusing on issues and debates surrounding new music.