Assaff Weisman

Pianist Assaff Weisman has been captivating audiences with his intensity, lyricism and communicative style since his solo debut at the age of twelve. The Greenville News observed “this piano virtuoso has facile fingers that toss off daredevil passages with ease and a mind for music that is as nimble as his fingers.”

Mr. Weisman’s performances have taken him to some of the major venues in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. These include appearances at the Rudolfinum in Prague, Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Philips Hall in The Hague, the Millennium Piano Festival in Spain as well as in Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. As first prize winner in the 2006 Iowa International Piano Competition he has appeared as soloist with the Sioux City Symphony, American Chamber Orchestra, Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra, Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra as well as the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional of Peru.

Mr. Weisman’s radio credits include WQXR’s “Young Artist Showcase” featuring works of Haydn and Scriabin, “The Voice of Music” in Israel as well as multiple appearances on WGBH radio in Boston where he has recorded repertoire ranging from Bach to André Previn. He is still the youngest person to appear on that station making his debut at the age of twelve. His 2002 release of an all Schubert recording for Yamaha’s “NYC Rising Star” series quickly became one of its best sellers.

An avid chamber musician, Mr. Weisman has taken part in the Aspen Music Festival, Campos do Jordão (Brazil), Lima Chamber Music Festival (Peru), The Music Festival of the Hamptons, Verbier (Switzerland) and is a director and founding member of the recently-formed Israeli Chamber Project. Making his home in New York City, Mr. Weisman can often be heard in such local venues as Alice Tully Hall, Bargemusic, St. Paul’s Chapel, Trinity Church and Rockefeller University. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he studied with Herbert Stessin and where he now is a member of the Evening Division piano faculty. Prior to his studies in New York Mr. Weisman studied with Professor Victor Derevianko in Israel and was supported by scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

Itamar Zorman

Praised in the Israeli press for his "wonderfully sweet tone", Violinist Itamar Zorman has performed in Carnegie Hall as a soloist with the American Symphony orchestra under conductor Glen Roven, as chamber musician at Lincoln Center with Concertante Chamber Players, and in Weill Recital Hall. He has performed as a soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony, the Israel Sinfonietta, the Ramat Gan Camerata, Hadera orchestra, Hasharon chamber orchestra and the Greenwich Village Orchestra. He played the Israeli premier of Menachem Wiesenberg's Double concerto for Classical and Klezmer violin, with Klezmer violinist Sophie Solomon, conductor Doron Solomon and the Be'er Sheva Sinfonietta. He appeared in several Television programs and has recorded for the Austrian radio, WQXR (including its "Young Artist Showcase") and the Israeli radio numerous times. Itamar is a recipient of scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural foundation and the Ilona Feher foundation, as well as member of the young musicians unit of the Jerusalem Music Center. He is a founding member of the "Israeli Chamber Project", a chamber music group dedicated to performing in the Israeli Periphery.

Itamar participated in many master classes around the world, working with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zuckerman, Shlomo Mintz, Ida Handel and Ivry Gitlis. He also took part in international music festivals, including the NAC Young artist program in Ottawa (Canada), Keshet Eilon (Israel), Voice of Music (Israel), Masters de Belesbat (Frnace), The Heifetz International Music Institute (New Hampshire) and Chatauqua (New-York), and ISA Prague-Vienna-Budapest (Austria).

Itamar won the first prizes in the Claremont Competition (2004), the Rubin Academy Jerusalem contest (2004), the Israeli Conservatory competition (2002), and the ISA Prague-Vienna-Budapest competition for contemporary music. Recently, he won 1st prize in the Ben-Haim solo competition in Israel (2006), 1st prize in the Jerusalem Academy's chamber
music contest (leading a string quartet) and 1st prize in the Buchman-Mehta School of music at the Tel-Aviv University. In 2001 he won a special prize in Kloster Shontal International competition for young violinists in Germany.

In 1998, he sang as boy-soprano with the Israel Philharmonic under the baton of Zubin Mehta and Daniel Oren the solo part of Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, and the world premier of Noam Sheriff's work "Bereshit" (Genesis) in Israel's 50th anniversary celebration.

Born in Tel-Aviv 1985 to a family of musicians, Itamar has graduated from the Israeli conservatory of music in Tel-Aviv, where he started his violin studies at the age of six with Sally Bockel. He continued his violin studies with Prof. David Chen and Nava Milo. He was the first violinist in the Israeli Army Quartet and graduated from the Jerusalem academy of music in 2006, where he was a student of Hagai Shaham. Later on, Itamar continued his studies with Robert Mann, and is currently a student of Sylvia Rosenberg at The Juilliard School, pursuing his Master of Music degree. He plays on a Ceruti violin on loan to him from Yehuda Zisapel.