Israel Chamber Orchestra

Gary Bertini founded the Israel Chamber Orchestra in 1965 and led it for its first decade, shaping a body small enough to tour and supple enough to take new music and the classical repertoire in the same programme. Luciano Berio followed him briefly in 1975; Rudolf Barshai, who had built the Moscow Chamber Orchestra before emigrating, directed it from 1976 to 1981 and left his mark on its string playing. Later chiefs have included Yoav Talmi, Shlomo Mintz, Philippe Entremont — afterwards conductor laureate — Noam Sheriff and Ariel Zuckermann, who held the post from 2015 to 2023; Ruben Gazarian was appointed in 2024. The orchestra first played in the United States in New York in 1969, and it has recorded for Chandos, Naxos, Koch and Teldec in repertoire reaching from Schoenberg and Ginastera to Tchaikovsky. It is supported by the municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo and by national funds.