Gilad Harel

When Israeli clarinetist Gilad Harel first started his classical clarinet training, he got two tapes as a gift - one of Benny Goodman, the other of Giora Feidman. Since then, throughout his career, Gilad Harel continuously combines all genres - Mozart with Klezmer, Klezmer with Swing, Contemporary Music with folk. His programs are adventurous, fresh and exhilarating.

Gilad Harel performed regularly with German Cabaret singer Ute Lemper. He played as a soloist with different orchestras around the world - the Hong Kong Sinfonieta, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, the Geneva Camerata, the Torino Philharmonic, the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, the Manhattan Sinfonieta, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra and the Israel Sinfonietta Orchestra.

Gilad Harel collaborates with mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital, created a unique concert of Klezmer music with Electronics which was performed at the Paris “Cent-Quatre” and at the Comédie de Genève. He played at the Cracow Festival for Jewish Culture with a band playing Cuban-Klezmer music and recently created a program of Dixieland Klezmer.

After finishing his studies at the Paris Conservatory and at the Juilliard School, he remained in New York and worked with some of the leading composers of this century - Elliott Carter, Salvatore Sciarrino, John Zorn, Tristan Murail, Tania Leon and Milton Babbitt, to name a few.

Altogether, after returning to his homeland, Gilad Harel gave over 200 premiers of works newly written. He also plays theater shows for the leading theater houses in Israel.

Gilad Harel appears on recording labels such as Zadik, Albany Records, Nonsuch, Soupir Edition and New Focus Recordings.

Gilad Harel is faculty at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and at the Israeli Conservatory of Music in Tel Aviv. He gives masterclasse and Klezmer workshops around the world.