Tibi Cziger, clarinet

Itamar Zorman, violin

Michal Korman, cello

Sivan Magen, harp

Assaff Weisman, piano

The Israeli Chamber Project, featuring Tibi Cziger, Michal Korman, Sivan Magen, Assaff Weisman, and Itamar Zorman, presents works by Claude Debussy, Galina Ustvolskaya, Sebastian Currier, Ludwig van Beethoven, and the world premiere of Amit Gilutz's New Work for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Harp, and Piano.

Performance playlist:

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Sonata for Cello and Piano (arranged for harp)
I. Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto
II. Sérénade: Modérément animé
III. Final: Animé, léger et nerveux

Amit Gilutz (1983)

Zlila (ICP commission, world premiere)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano in B-flat Major, Op. 11
I. Allegro con brio
II. Adagio
III. Tema con variazioni: Allegretto

Sebastian Currier (1959)

Night Time, for Violin and Harp
I. Dusk
II. Sleepless
III. Vespers
IV. Nightwind
V. Starlight

Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

Contrasts
I. Verbunkos
II. Pihenő
III. Sebes

The Israeli Chamber Project, founded in 2008, brings together some of today’s most distinguished young Israeli musicians for chamber music concerts, educational, and outreach programs both in Israel and abroad. Structured as a chamber music society, the ensemble was created as a means for its members to give something back to the community where they began their musical education and to bring something of Israel to concert goers overseas.

In the three seasons since its inception, the Israeli Chamber Project has embarked on biannual tours of Israel, where it has garnered rave reviews from the press and established itself as a major artistic force on that country’s vibrant cultural scene. These tours have included performances on some of the premiere chamber music series in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as well as in remote towns where there is no opportunity to hear live chamber music. A strong advocate for music education, ICP has partnered with conservatories across Israel in order to offer lessons and master classes to students of all cultural and economic backgrounds, many of whom have little or no opportunity to work with internationally recognized musicians. On its most recent tour, ICP was joined by the Guarneri String Quartet’s Michael Tree, and its Spring 2011 tour will feature Grammy-nominated, and Cleveland Orchestra Principal Flutist, Joshua Smith.

An important part of the Israeli Chamber Project’s mission is to support emerging Israeli composers by commissioning works specifically for the ensemble. Composers commissioned so far have included Matan Porat, Jonathan Keren, Gilad Cohen, Yohanan Chendler, and Amit Gilutz.

In the United States, the Israeli Chamber Project has appeared at Bargemusic and Symphony Space in New York City, The Embassy Series in Washington D.C., SOPAC in New Jersey, Cornell University, and has been featured on WQXR radio’s Young Artist Showcase. Highlights of the 2010-2011 season include appearances at Symphony Space and at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, as well as concerts in California, Texas, Canada, and Israel.

Currently studying at Cornell University with Steven Stucky and Roberto Sierra, as well as Fabien Levy (Columbia), Amit Gilutz is a graduate of the Israel Arts and Sciences Academy in Jerusalem and the Rubin Music Academy in Jerusalem. Among his principal teachers there were Andre Hajdu, Ynam Leef, and Mark Kopytman. Gilutz participated in several international summer programs working with such leading composers as Peter Michael Hammel (Germany), Doina Rotaru (Romania), Michael Jarell (Switzerland), Brian Ferneyhough (USA), Boguslaw Schaffer (Poland), and Fabian Panisello (Spain). Among the prizes and scholarships Gilutz has won are the Israeli-American Culture Fund scholarships for composition, first prize of the 2003 Mediterranean Music Center Composition Competition (Greece), prize for outstanding achievement from the director of the Jerusalem Music Academy, first prize for the Chana Idor Avni Composition Competition, Klon Scholarship for young composers, and the 2007 ACUM award for his White Darkness. His compositions and arrangements have been performed by ensembles in Israel and abroad including the Kibbutz Chamber Orchestra, Be’er-Sheva Sinfonietta Orchestra, Tel Aviv Campus Orchestra, IDF Chamber Orchestra, Kaprizma Ensemble, Tel Aviv Soloists Ensemble, Meitar Ensemble, Israeli Chamber Project, and Ensemble Adapter.