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.

Martin Fröst is internationally known as a highly virtuoso clarinettist, original music mediator and inspiring conductor. The pursuit of reshaping classical music and the search for new challenges characterise him as much as an extensive repertoire. It consists of set clarinet works, but also a number of contemporary compositions, for which he is a strong advocate. In 2014, he was the first clarinettist to be honoured for his playing with one of the highest musical awards in the world, the “Léonie Sonning Music Prize”.

As a soloist, the Swedish-born musician has performed with world-renowned orchestras such as the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. He was a guest at the RSB for the first time in 2013. He regularly works with artists such as Yuja Wang, Janine Jansen and Roland Pöntinen. He plays at international festivals and tours throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

Since 2019, Martin Fröst has been principal conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Together they started a project in which they travelled through Europe only by train, following in Mozart’s footsteps. As part of a multimedia performance project with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Martin Fröst performed as soloist and conductor.

The 21/22 season was marked by concerts and tours through Central Europe with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, but also by the Norwegian and British premiere of the Double Concerto for Violin and Clarinet by Sally Beamishs, which Martin Fröst performed together with violinist Janine Jansen. He also returned to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and conducted the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in France for the premiere of Jesper Nordin’s Emerging from Currents and Waves.

Martin Fröst’s interest is not only in the constant reinvention of music, he is also strongly committed to music education. In 2019, for example, he founded the Martin Fröst Foundation, which aims to provide better access to musical instruments and lessons for children and young people and already has a presence in Kenya and Madagascar.