What age did you begin playing a musical instrument?
When I was 8 years old I started playing the recorder and at 10 the French horn.
What age did you understand that you wish to pursue a musical career?
Towards the age of 18 I realized I’d like to pursue music professionally.
Name an unforgettable moment with the IPO
The 6th movement of Mahler’s 3rd symphony. On the stage of the Sydney Opera House in 2002, under the baton of Zubin Mehta. The combination of a sad and extremely moving movement, and the whole occasion brought me to tears. I remember myself seated on stage, and the music going straight to my heart. It’s hard to describe in words.
What do you love to do off stage?
Other than playing I’m devoted to my family. I have a wonderful charismatic husband. He is a head of an internal medicine department in the Tel HaShomer Hospital, and an entrepreneur in the study of medicine. We have three big boys; 23, 19, 13. Two dogs and two cats. I take care of everyone in my house with great love. I also love to do handcrafts, especially mosaic. In this past year I have filled up my house and the backyard with my mosaics.
Which kind of music would we find on your playlist?
There’s a lot of classical music on my playlist. Symphonies and brass ensembles, and Israeli songs as well. The “Tsav HaShaa” Project which is being published now, a project that renews Israeli songs from the past, is also played a lot in my home.
What is the special significance of the IPO to you/Why did you want to be part of the IPO?
For me playing with the IPO is producing the sound of my French horn, which is an old and divine sound, as part of a high quality horn section, in a brilliant orchestra. All that is while playing the most gorgeous music ever written, with an incredible sound, on a lighted up and beloved stage, in our admirable prestige concert hall, to a big and welcoming audience, who knows how to listen and appreciate the music. It’s important for me that we represent Israel, live in Israel, and play to Israeli audience, and I say this with deep Jewish and Israeli feelings in my heart. I am blessed to be a part of this orchestra.
Did you acquire any new skills during the pandemic?
During the pandemic I have learned how to pour concrete… I’ve made sculptures, stepping stones and a turtle, and covered them with mosaic.
How can we keep classical music and live performances relevant in the digital era?
In the digital era there’s a place for both short, light and fun videos, which fit the instant type of message like in social media, but also broadcasts of full pieces for long quiet evenings at home. The videos we have made for Hanukkah were very festive and nice to watch.
Irit Rappaport and Glen Perry Chair