Now in its second decade, the Israeli Chamber Project is a dynamic ensemble comprising strings, winds, harp, and piano, that brings together some of today’s most distinguished musicians for chamber music concerts and educational and outreach programs both in Israel and abroad. It was named the winner of the 2011 Israeli Ministry of Culture Outstanding Ensemble Award and 2017 Partos Prize in recognition of its passionate musicianship, creative programming, and commitment to educational outreach.
Based both in Israel and in New York, the ensemble was created as a means for its members to give something back to the community where they began their musical education and to showcase Israeli culture, through its music and musicians to concert goers overseas. Among its members are prize-winners at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Russia, the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the Gaspar Cassado Cello Competition.
The Israeli Chamber Project’s tours have garnered rave reviews (“These players have to be heard to be believed.” –American Record Guide; “A band of world-class soloists…in which egos dissolve and players think, breathe and play as one.” -Time Out New York) and established the ensemble as a major artistic force on both sides of the Atlantic. These tours include appearances on some of the premier chamber music series, whether in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, New York or Beijing, as well as in remote towns where access to live chamber music is extremely rare. Guest artists on ICP tours have included the Guarneri String Quartet’s Michael Tree and Peter Wiley, the Cleveland Orchestra’s Principal Flutist, Joshua Smith as well as international soloists Antje Weithaas, Liza Ferschtman and Marina Piccinini.
A strong advocate for music education, the ICP has partnered with several conservatories and educational institutions in order to offer lessons and masterclasses to students of all cultural and economic backgrounds, many of whom have little or no opportunity to work with internationally recognized musicians.
An important part of the Israeli Chamber Project’s mission is to expand the chamber music literature by commissioning both new works as well as new arrangements of existing works. Original commissions have included works by Lowell Liebermann, Matan Porat, Jonathan Keren, Gilad Cohen, Yohanan Chendler, Amit Gilutz and Zohar Sharon. New arrangements of works by Debussy, Ravel, Barber, Stravinsky, Schumann and Bernstein created by Yuval Shapiro, Jonathan Keren, and Sivan Magen have become a cornerstone of the ensemble’s programming.
The Israeli Chamber Project has appeared at venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Morgan Library & Museum, Town Hall and Merkin Concert Hall in New York City, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, The Clark Memorial Library at UCLA, Ottawa’s Chamberfest, on tour in China and Hong Kong, and has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today and WQXR radio’s Young Artist Showcase.
Notable performances in the 2023-24 season include the ensemble’s first collaboration with the preeminent violist, Tabea Zimmermann as well as the world premiere of a new Gity Razaz commission written for the ensemble and tenor Karim Sulayman.