User:Alon Sariel

Alon Sariel – Conductor, Mandolininst, Lutenist

Born in Beer Sheva (*1986) which just happens to be the Israeli mandolin capital, Alon Sariel received his first music lessons with the age of 8. Upon graduation from the Beer Sheva Conservatory, Sariel was awarded the status of "extraordinary musician" by the Israeli Ministry of Education, and so he was let to pursue academic studies at the Jerusalem Academy for Music and Dance during his military service. Within five years Sariel has managed to achieve his first diplomas, B.Mus and M.Mus from the Jerusalem Academy.

In the early age of 17 he was invited as mandolin soloist to play Sarasate's Ziguenerweisen with the Israeli Sinfonietta Beer-Sheva and exactly five years later he has conducted the orchestra for the first time. During his military service under the title Outstanding Musician, Sariel was co-founder of the Education Core Folk Orchestra. He toured Europe with the Jewish-Arab Youth Orchestra and was invited to represent Israel along with other musicians from the Middle East, to take part in a workshop which culminated with a CD production by Jeunesses Musicales (2005). Between the years 2007-2009 Sariel has toured intensively as member of the West Eastern Divan, conducted by Maestro Daniel Barenboim.

During his studies at the Jerusalem Academy he won the first prizes in the Chamber Music Competition, the Competition for String Instruments and the Conducting Competition. He was awarded the Audience Prize in the name of Meira Gera at the Aviv Competitions in Early Music, and a special recognition from the Jury of the Ben-Haim Competition for Contemporary Israeli Music. As a classical mandolin player he has won top prizes at the European Mandolin Award (Greece) and the Rafaelle Calace Competition (Italy), receiving the America-Israel Foundation Scholarships since 2002, The Chais Foundation Excellence Grant, the Sarni Foundation Scholarships and a special grant from "Zfunot Tarbut" Foundation to name a few.

Upon graduation in Jerusalem, Sariel went on studying the lute and orchestra conducting at the Brussels Royal Conservatory and the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater in Hannover, from which he graduated with destiction. Among his teachers were Dora Bartik, Lev Khaymovic, Motti Schmidt, Eugeny Zirlin, Ronald Zollman, Philippe Malfeyt, Hans-Michael Koch, Paul Weigold and Martin Brauß. In addition, he has also taken part in master classes with first rank artists as Daniel Barenboim, Yoel Levi and Benjamin Zander, Nigel North, Hopkinson Smith, Conrad Junghänel, Ugo Orlandi, Avi Avital, Corina Marti, Ilan Gronich and Giora Feidman.

Sariel received his first important chamber music experience while being member of the award winning Israeli Mandolin Quartet, known for their extraordinary Kerman instruments. He took part in different dance-theater productions and regularly directed from the basso-continuo position in the Israel Early Music Project which he founded in 2006 in order to promote the Historically Informed Performance in Israel. The Israel Early Music Project has quickly gained its name as one of the most dynamic ensembles in the region and was invited to many of the most important halls and festivals in Israel. 2008 has seen the Israel Early Music Project in concerts abroad, on tour to Belgium, England and Germany.

At home in both the new music world as well as the historical performance practice field, Sariel has played solo with most of the high rank orchestras in Israel, many times also as a conductor. He recorded for labels such as Naxos, Orlando and Albany Records (USA) and was invited to play a recital for the Israeli TV show "Intermezzo" with Maestro Arie Vardi. His playing was broadcasted by Arte, BBC4, Bayerischer Rundfunk, TV ONE, National Radio Sofia, P2 Klassiskt, Kol-Hamusica, WQXR, WNYC, and can also be heard on Naxos Online. He has toured with diverse ensembles throughout Europe, the U.S.A, the Middle and Far East, and appeared at Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival, Festival de Musique de Menton, Les Musicalles de Bagatelle, Festival O/Modernt, Göttinger Händel Festspiele, Royal Albert Hall, La Scala, Vienna Musikverein, Hamburg Leiszhalle and Kölner Philharmonie.

Only three months after his move to Germany in 2010, Sariel was called for the position of Musical Director and Conductor at the Camerata Medica Göttingen, later he was also invited to serve as head conductor at the Göttingen Young Symphony Orchestra (Jugend Symphony Orchester). Between 2010-2012 Alon Sariel served as musical director of the Hannover International Ensemble which was invited as ensemble in residence to the Festival de Mandoline de Castellar in 2011, including a guest performance at Festival de Musique de Menton. The Hannover International Ensemble under Alon Sariel has also produced productions of Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire and Stravisnky's l'Histoire du Soldat, the latter being presented at the NDR Hannover Musiktag 2011. Starting from 2014 Alon Sariel was appointed musical director of the newly formed orchestra NordBarock in Hanover.

In 2011 Alon Sariel has won first prizes at the Bloch competition, the Israeli Music competition in London, and the Haverhill Sinfonia Soloist Competition, these was followed by solo performances with several orchestras in the UK, among them, Imaestri Orchestra, London International Orchestra, Arnold Sinfonia, Airedale Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the City and recitals in some of London’s most important venues. In Germany Sariel was awarded the Schröder Prize from the Hannover University of music, theater and media, and was selected to the excellence program Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now.

Alon Sariel's discography starts in 2007 where he recorded the ever first recording of Paul Ben Haim's Sonata a tre for mandolin, guitar and harpsichord for Albany Records (USA) and paired with Jacob Reuven for a recording of Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Mandolins. In 2009, Sariel has released “Sources” with music from Bach, Telemann, Leclair, Corrette, Handel-Holversen, Beriot and Bartok, on which he can be heard playing the modern mandolin and mandola, as well as the original early mandolins. 2013 brought a collaboration with the New York based Joe Brent, for an album of impressions on John Dowland named "Englishman in New York" (Orlando-Records). On that album Alon Sariel can be heard on both mandolin and Renaissance lute.


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