Hyperion Records

Hailed for his thrilling virtuosity, lustrous tone and profound artistic expression, Hagai Shaham is recognized as one of the most exciting violinists to have emerged from Israel in recent years. He began his studies with Elisha Kagan and later was a student of the late renowned Professor Ilona Fehér. He completed his studies in the USA with Emanuel Borok, Arnold Steinhardt and the Guarneri Quartet. Shaham’s awards include first prizes at the 1990 ARD Munich competition, Ilona Kornhauser competition, Israel Broadcasting Authority competition, Tel Aviv Rubin Academy competition, Clairmont Awards and an America–Israel Cultural Foundation Award.

In 1985 Hagai Shaham joined Isaac Stern and Pinchas Zukerman in a gala concert at Carnegie Hall in honour of Maestro Stern’s sixty-fifth birthday. He has performed with all the major orchestras in Israel, and with the English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Slovak Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony orchestras, among many others. He is also in great demand as a recitalist, and regularly tours in Europe and North and Central America. In December 2006 he performed Brahms’s Double Concerto with Misha Maisky and the Israel Philharmonic, under Zubin Mehta, as part of the the orchestra’s seventieth anniversary celebrations.

Hagai Shaham’s recordings for Hyperion—including concertos by Hubay and Ferdinand David—have all been enthusiastically received. He currently teaches at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, Tel Aviv University.