Gavriel Lipkind

Israeli Cellist Gavriel Lipkind Has Established An International Reputation As A Creative Versatile Musician Renowned For His Extensive Range Of Colours Charismatic Stage Presence And Musical Vision. A Multi-Faceted Performer Mr Lipkind Has Forged A Career Not Only On The Orchestral Stage But Also In Solo Recitals And Chamber Music. His Intense Compelling Performances Have Led To The Press Stating “It Is Probably Impossible To Play The Cello Any Better Than He” And Praising Him As “A Master Of His Art.”
Mr Lipkind’s 2007-08 Season Included Orchestral And Recital Engagements Throughout The Netherlands Germany France Belgium Ireland Japan And Israel. Of Special Note Is A Highly Acclaimed Recital Performance At The Musica Mundi Festival In Which Mr Lipkind Replaced Violinist Maxim Vengerov On A Few Hours Notice Resulting In Five Engagements Throughout Belgium Including One With The Brussels Philharmonic. Mr Lipkind’s International Summer 2008 Appearances Include A Chamber Music Tour Of The Major Cities In Israel With The Jerusalem String Quartet Performances Of Shostakovitch’s Cello Concerto No. 1 With The Saarlaendische Staatsorchester Saarbruecken Germany Performances At Germany’s Festspiele Europaeische Wochen In Passau And Rheingau Musik Festival Also With The Jerusalem String Quartet Debut Performances At France’s Festival International De Colmar And Germany’s Kreuth Festival And Concerts At Belgium’s Musica Mundi 10th Anniversary. Mr Lipkind’s Summer Season Ends With His Debut At New York’s Bard Festival Performing Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante With The American Symphony Orchestra On August 16th.
During The 2008-09 Season Mr Lipkind Returns To The United States In Three Engagements Including Two Series Debuts In Solo Recital November 5th On Bargemusic’s New York 2008 Series And At Chicago’s Ravinia Festival On November 7th. He Travels To Pennsylvania Mid-Month To Perform Schumann’s Cello Concerto With The Pennsylvania Sinfonia On November 15th. International Appearances Of Note Include An Exclusive Performance At The 50th Anniversary Of The European Parliament In Luxembourg On September 18th Debut Performances With The New Japan Philharmonic Performing Pfitzner’s Cello Concerto No. 3 In May And A Tour Of Japan In June Starting With The Dvorak Concerto In A Gala Performance At Suntory Hall With The NPOR And Maestro Vladimir Spivakov And Ending With Recital Performances Throughout Japan.
Additional Orchestral Engagements This Fall 2008 Include Four Performances Of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations With The Gelders Orchestra Netherlands And A Concert Featuring Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 In C With The Soloists Of Russia At France’s Festival De Nimes. Mr Lipkind Also Appears In Recitals In France Ireland The Netherlands Belgium Luxembourg And Germany.
A Profound Advocate Of Music Education Mr Lipkind Teaches Master Classes On A Regular Basis. This Season Mr Lipkind Gives Master Classes In The US At The Academy Of The Music Institute Of Chicago And In Pennsylvania In Connection To His Performances With The Pennsylvania Sinfonia And Abroad At The International Cello Congress In Israel Belgium’s Musica Mundi Festival Norway’s Bergen Festival At The Dublin Master Classes Ireland Zeister Musiktage Germany The Amsterdam Cello Biennale The Jezre’el Valley Cello Festival Israel And While On Tour In Japan. All These Include Concerts As Well.
A Dynamic Engaging Communicator Mr Lipkind Has Made Numerous Radio And Television Appearances Throughout Europe The Middle East And Japan As Well As Two Live Performances On Boston’s WGBH. In The Recording Arena Gavriel Lipkind Has Recorded And Produced Two Award-Winning CDs On His Own Label Lipkind Productions In Co-Operation With Edel Classics “Single Voice Polyphony Volume I ” A Three SA-CD Surround-Sound Set Showcasing The Bach Cello Suites And “Miniatures And Folklore ” Featuring His Own Arrangements. Morgenpost Am Sonntag Praised His Recording Of The Bach Suites Stating “...Israeli Gavriel Lipkind Is A Master Of The Cello. He Has Chosen One Of The Most Difficult Works For His Instrument The Six Cello Suites By Johann Sebastian Bach. A Box With 3 CDs Each Of Which Is One Of The Finest You Could Possibly Hear…”. Likewise NDR Kultur Acclaimed “These Bach-Cello-Solo-Suites By Gavriel Lipkind Are A Revelation They Are Perhaps – We Dare Say – One Of The Most Exciting If Not THE Most Exciting Recording Since The Great Pablo Casals.” In A Review Of The Miniatures CD The Strad Stated “Cellists Venturing Into This Repertory Had Better Have Nothing Short Of A Superlative Technique And Gorgeous Sound Lipkind Does Not Let Us Down. Opening The Programme With The Scherzo-Tarantella By Wieniawski A Hair-Raisingly Difficult Transcription From The Violin Original His Playing Contains All The Necessary Qualities Precision Excitement Fluidity Exact Harmonics Expressive Shifts Excellent Intonation And Dramatic Dynamics.” Designed By Carolyn Steinbeck Both CDs Have Won The IF Design Award And Single Voice Polyphony Besides Winning The Red Dot Award Has Recently Been Nominated By The German Ministry Of Culture For The Design Price Of The Federal Republic Of Germany – The Highest Nomination For Object Design And Presentation In Germany. In August 2008 Mr Lipkind Will Record Two Recital Programs For The Lipkind Productions Label To Be Released In Early 2009 “Specialties” A Compilation Of Adopted Masterworks For Cello And Piano And “Absolute Music” Featuring Works By Beethoven Brahms And Britten.
As A Soloist Mr Lipkind Has Appeared With All The Major Israeli Orchestras As Well As Such Orchestras As The Baltimore Symphony BBC Ulster Orchestra Munich Philharmonic Netherlands Chamber Orchestra New Jersey Symphony RTE National Symphony Orchestra Ireland Vienna Chamber Orchestra And Tokyo Metropolitan To Name Just A Few. His Numerous Recital Credits Include The Netherland’s Concertgebouw And Delft And Zeist Chamber Music Festivals Belgium’s De Singel The United Kingdom’s Wigmore Hall St. James And St. Martin In The Fields Italy’s Theater Of Florence France’s Theatre De Champs-Elysee And Salle Gaveau Japan’s Oji Hall And Hokkoku Shimbun Hall Switzerland’s Davos And Gstaad Menuhin Festivals And Halls Throughout Germany Including Frankfurt’s Alte Oper Beethovenhaus In Bonn And The Berlin Philharmonie Among Others. He Has Performed With Such Renowned Conductors As Zubin Mehta Dennis Russell-Davies Giuseppe Sinopoli Zdenek Macal Arnold Katz And Mstislav Rostropovitch To Name A Few.
Already Established As A Performer Gavriel Lipkind Took An Unusual Career Step In His Early Twenties And Withdrew From The Performance Arena For A Period Of Three Years To Further His Music-Making Skills Better Understand Music Production And To Redefine His Career As An Artist. From 2002 To 2004 He Devoted Himself To Learning Additional Cello Repertoire And Attended The Detmold Hochschule Fur Musik Where He Studied Musicology The Science Of Recording And Also Studied Piano And Chamber Music At The Karlsruhe Hochschule. During This Period He Also Was The Subject Of A Documentary Entitled “The Solitude Cycle – A Journey To The Limits...” Which Is Yet To Be Released On 3SAT/ARTE TV Germany. This Groundbreaking Project Involved Mr Lipkind Engaging Eight Composers-In-Residence At The Internationally Renowned Akademie Schloss Solitude In Stuttgart Germany To Collaborate With Him In Composing A Stand-Alone Performance For Solo Cello And Electronics. During This Collaboration He Began To Perform Again And Founded His Own Record Label Lipkind Productions Producing And Recording “Single Voice Polyphony” And “Miniatures & Folklore”.
Born In 1977 In Tel-Aviv Israel To Russian Immigrants Gavriel Lipkind Began Cello Studies At Age Six And Made His Stage Debut One Year Later. At Age Eight He Began Studies With Professor Uzi Wiesel At The Tel-Aviv Rubin Academy Of Music And By Age 13 Was Performing Regularly With Orchestras Throughout Israel. At 15 He Won An Israeli Competition For A Gala Concert With The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra And Zubin Mehta And Began His Professional Career With A Performance Of Saint–Saens’ Cello Concerto No. 1. Mr Lipkind Speaks Four Languages German English Russian And Hebrew And Holds Music Degrees In Cello From Germany’s Frankfurt Hochschule Where He Studied With Antonio Menessess And Gerhardt Mantel In Piano And Chamber Music From The Karlsruhe Hochschule Where He Studied With Rector Fanny Solter And A Post-Graduate Artist Diploma In Cello From Boston’s New England Conservatory Where He Studied With Laurence Lesser And Bernard Greenhouse. Mr Lipkind Plays A Michael A. Garani Cello Bologna 1702 Generously Sponsored By The Commerzbank. When Not Performing He Makes His Home In A Nature Reserve North Of Frankfurt Germany. read less