<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-8472" src="http://ipoold.local/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/אסף-מעוז.jpg" alt="Asaf Maoz" width="750" height="440" />Born in Israel in 1979, Asaf Maoz is a graduate of the Talma Yellin School of the Arts, the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel-Aviv,  and the Rostock Hochschule für Musik, Germany, where he studied with such eminent teachers as Ahuva Driblat, Simon Yerushevich, Ora Shiran and Axel Wilczok.

He regularly appears in festivals, such as Apple hill “Playing for Peace”, Verbier in Switzerland, Jerusalem International Chamber Music, Festival de Bellerive in Switzerland and Music in the Desert Festival, Sde Boker, Israel. He was a member of the “Capital dance orchestra” that plays mainly swing music.

Asaf Maoz served in the IDF as a distinguished musician. He has won several competitions and scholarships from the America-Israel Foundation, Yehudi Menuhin’s “Live Music Now” and the Fundación Barenboim-Said.

During 2004-2013 he resided in Berlin where he was a member of the “Komische Oper Berlin” (Asisstant concertmaster), the “Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin” (concertmaster and principal 2nd violin), the “Tel Aviv Soloists ensemble” and the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra (concertmaster and principal 2nd violin). He has been a member of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under Maestro Daniel Barenboim 2000-2012 (Principal 2nd violin). In 2006-2007 he has served as Principal 2nd violin in the German “Bielefelder Philharmoniker”.

Since October 2013 he is a member of the Israel Philharmonic orchestra. In his leisure time he enjoys playing tennis, chess, listen to music and walks along the beach.

With a career spanning more than thirty years as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, conductor and director, Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated violinists of his era. Having performed with every major orchestra in the world on six continents, he continues to maintain engagements as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Since 2011, he has served as Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, succeeding Sir Neville Marriner, who formed the orchestra in 1958. Joshua Bell’s multifaceted interests range from performing the repertoire’s hallmarks to recording commissioned works, including Nicholas Maw’s Violin Concerto, for which he received a Grammy award. He has also premiered works of John Corigliano, Edgar Meyer, Jay Greenberg and Behzad Ranjbaran, continually exploring the boundaries of the repertoire and the instrument. Committed to innovative ways of expanding classical music’s social and cultural impact, he has collaborated with various artists and organizations across a multitude of genres. He has partnered with Renée Fleming, Chick Corea, Regina Spektor, Wynton Marsalis, Chris Botti, Anoushka Shankar, Frankie Moreno, Josh Groban and Sting, among others, emphasizing music as a crucial element of crosscultural conversation. Maintaining an avid interest in film music, he is the featured soloist in a wide array of film soundtracks, including The Red Violin (1998), Ladies in Lavender (2004) and Defiance (2008). Joshua Bell has recorded more than 40 albums garnering Grammy, Mercury, Gramophone and ECHO Klassik awards. He advocates for music as an essential educational tool and maintains active involvement with Education Through Music and Turnaround Arts, which provide instruments and arts education to children who may not otherwise be able to experience classical music firsthand. Continuing to work alongside young talent to foster the next generation of classical music ambassadors, he currently serves as senior lecturer at his alma mater, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Born in Bloomington, Indiana, he began the violin at the age of four, and at age twelve began studies with his mentor, Josef Gingold. At age 14, he debuted with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and made his Carnegie Hall debut at age 17 with the St. Louis Symphony. At age 18, he signed with his first label and received the Avery Fisher Career Grant. In the years following, he has been named 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America, a 2007 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, nominated for five Grammy awards and received the 2007 Avery Fisher Prize. He has also received the 2003 Indiana Governor’s Arts Award and a Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 1991 from the Jacobs School of Music. In 2000, he was named an Indiana Living Legend and one of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful. He has performed for three American presidents, most recently former president Barack Obama, participating in Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ first cultural mission to Cuba. Joshua Bell performs on the 1713 Huberman Stradivarius violin, with a François Tourte 18th-Century bow.

Sharon Cohen, member of the First Violin section of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, has been a long time member of the West Eastern Divan Orchestra, directed by Daniel Barenboim, where she leads the second violin section.

Her work with the WEDO has also included chamber music appearances at prestigious international festivals, including Salzburg, the BBC Proms and Rolandsek in Germany. She also represents the IPO in chamber concerts in Tel Aviv and around the world.

A founding member of A Far Cry, a leading chamber orchestra in the USA, she also spearheaded its education team. Her recordings include four albums with A Far Cry along with a solo appearance on its first album Debut, and many recordings with the West Eastern Divan Orchestra.

She completed her master’s degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston and her undergraduate studies at The Jerusalem Academy for Music and Dance. This is her first appearance as soloist with the IPO.

Watch an interview with Sharon <a href="http://members.ipo.co.il/en/interviews/36"><strong>here</strong></a>