Lahav Shani & Martin Fröst

In the 18/19 season, Lahav Shani took over from Yannick Nézet-Séguin as Chief Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. From the 20/21 season he is the Music Director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, taking over from Zubin Mehta who held the appointment for 50 years. From the 17/18 season until summer 20 Shani was also Principal Guest Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

In June 2016 Shani debuted with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra as conductor and solo pianist. No less than two months later, his appointment as Chief Conductor was announced and he became the youngest conductor to hold the position in the orchestra’s history. During his first season in the role, Shani led the orchestra in concerts across Europe, China and Taiwan. The Rotterdam Philharmonic with Shani have an exclusive recording contract with Warner Classics.

Shani’s close relationship with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra began well over 10 years ago. He debuted with the orchestra aged sixteen, and in 2007 performed Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto under the baton of Zubin Mehta aged eighteen. He then went on to play regularly with the orchestra as a double bassist. In 2013, after winning the Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition in Bamberg, the orchestra invited him to step in to conduct their season-opening concerts. Since then, he has returned to the orchestra every year as both a conductor and pianist, to lead the final concert of their 80th Anniversary celebrations in December 2016.

Shani works regularly with the Staatskapelle Berlin, both in opera productions at the Staatsoper Berlin and for symphonic concerts. Recent and upcoming guest conductor highlights include engagements with Vienna Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker, Gewandhaus Orchester, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Philharmonia Orchestra.

Born in Tel Aviv in 1989, Shani began his piano studies aged six with Hannah Shalgi, before continuing with Prof. Arie Vardi at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music. He went on to study conducting under Prof. Christian Ehwald and piano with Prof. Fabio Bidini at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler, Berlin and was mentored by Daniel Barenboim during his time there.

As a pianist in the 2019/20 Shani performed as a soloist with Valery Gergiev and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and with Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin. He has play-directed piano concerti with many orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Shani also has considerable experience performing chamber music and in recital and is a regular performer at the Verbier Festival, and has also appeared at the Aix-en-Provence Easter and Jerusalem Chamber Music Festivals.

Clarinettist, conductor and Sony Classical recording artist, Martin Fröst is known for pushing musical boundaries and has been described by the New York Times as having “a virtuosity and a musicianship unsurpassed by any clarinetist — perhaps any instrumentalist — in my memory”. Widely recognised as an artist who constantly seeks new ways to challenge and reshape the classical music arena, his repertoire encompasses mainstream clarinet works, as well as a number of contemporary pieces that he has personally championed. Winner of the 2014 Léonie Sonning Music Prize, one of the world’s highest musical honours, Fröst was the first clarinetist to be given the award and joined a prestigious list of previous recipients including Igor Stravinsky and Sir Simon Rattle. International Classical Music Awards voted him their 2022 Artist of the Year Award for his innovative global career, his impressive discography, and his philanthropy.

In the 2024/25 season, he continues to focus on his role as Chief Conductor of Swedish Chamber Orchestra, with concerts featuring international guest artists such as Pablo Hernández, Eric Lu, and Alina Ibragimova, as well as collaborations with Swedish Radio Choir. He returns to Japan for concerts with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, performing Michael Jarrell’s Clarinet Concerto “Passages”. Fröst makes his conducting debuts with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Kammerakademie Potsdam. He continues to champion Anna Clyne’s Clarinet Concerto Weathered with orchestras including Dresden Philharmonic and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. In March 2025, he embarks on a US and Canada tour with Antoine Tamestit and Shai Wosner, featuring an eclectic chamber music program. Other highlights of the season include performances with Frankfurt Radio Symphony with Riccardo Minasi, two chamber concerts at Wigmore Hall, and a return to Gävle Symphony Orchestra, as conductor.

As a soloist, Fröst has performed with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, New York and Los Angeles philharmonic orchestras, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. He regularly collaborates with prominent international artists, including Yuja Wang, Janine Jansen, Leif Ove Andsnes, Roland Pöntinen and Antoine Tamestit, as well as performs in international events such as Verbier Festival in Switzerland and Mostly Mozart in New York. Fröst has appeared in some of the world’s most important concert venues, including Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Konzerthaus Berlin and he has toured in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. He was Artist in Residence with Royal Concertgebouworkest for the 2022/23 season, the first ever wind player to be given that honour.

In recent years he has made successful conducting steps with the most important being his appointment as Chief Conductor of Swedish Chamber Orchestra for the 2019/20 season. Together they have embarked on a music journey that explores Mozart’s historic footprint in Europe through his travels. The CD project, recorded over a period of four years, Mozart: Ecstasy and Abyss, was released on 31 March 2023 by Sony Classical. The program includes late works by Mozart, written at particularly precarious moments in the composer’s life, which, despite this, are of exquisite intensity and beauty.

Renowned for his multimedia performing projects in collaboration with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, in recent years Fröst has presented Dollhouse, Genesis and most recently Retrotopia – his latest project to perform both as soloist and conductor in a musical journey that explores new repertoire and challenges the traditional conventions of the classical concert.

A keen advocate of the importance of music education, in 2019 Fröst launched the Martin Fröst Foundation with the support of the world’s largest manufacturer of wind instruments, Buffet Crampon. The purpose of the organisation is to provide resources that can improve and enable children’s and young people’s access to music education and instruments. The Foundation aims to join forces with non-profit organisations and various sponsors across the world, having already established presence in Kenya and Madagascar.