Biography

Shmuel Elbaz is one of the foremost and most versatile musicians who has emerged from Israel.

He performs as a mandolin artist and as a conductor with all major orchestras in Israel including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and others worldwide.

In 2019 he was invited by the Philadelphia Orchestra directed by Maestro Ynnick Nézet-Séguin and Artolerance organisation to play as a soloist special program which combines classical and andalusian music.

 

Since 2016, Shmuel has been appointed as associate music director of the Israel NK Orchestra.

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Shmuel was the first Israeli who brought the mandolin to the front of the stage as a classical solo instrument . His world premiere recordings of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas and Mozart violin sonatas performed on a mandolin, has raised great interest and was broadcasted on numerous radio stations.

A passionate performer of contemporary music, he has performed many works which have been dedicated especially to him. Shmuel is the winner of the prestigious International Plucked String Instruments Competition held in La Rioja, Spain.

 

His interest in encounters between Western and Eastern music cultures, has brought forth many collaborations during the years. For more than a decade, Shmuel served as the music director of the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra. In 2006 During the period under his musical direction, the orchestra was awarded the prestigious “Israel Prize" for its contribution to society and culture in the state. Hundreds of his orchestral arrangements have been performed and recorded by many orchestras and ensembles.

 

A devoted pedagogue, as part of his pedagogical activiy, Shmuel has taught at the Haifa and Ben Gurion Universities in Israel and lectures in the Department of Music and Sound for Film at the Sapir college, Israel.  As part of his commitment to the community and the periphery in Israel,  Shmuel founded the Jeanne and Bennet Tanenbaum Music Conservatory in Netivot where he served as its director.

 

Shmuel Elbaz was born in israel . He started his musical education at the Beer Sheva Music Conservatory in the mandolin class of the legendary Simcha Nathanson.

He graduated from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and the Sweelinck Academy of  Music, Amsterdam in performing arts and conducting under the guidance of

Mendi Rodan, Roland Kift and Peter Eötvös among others.