BIOGRAPHIES
WEIZMANN
INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
ISRAEL 2024 (POSTPONED)
Guest artists
Ricardo Castro, piano
Ricardo Castro, pianist and conductor, was born in Brazil. From a young age, he displayed exceptional interest and talent for the piano. At the age of five, he caught the attention of professor Esther Cardoso, herself a student of Marguerite Long, and was admitted to the Music School of the Federal University of Bahia. Early on, Ricardo Castro began performing in public, and at the age of ten, he played as a soloist with an orchestra. In 1984, he furthered his musical studies in Europe and entered the Geneva Conservatory of Music, where he studied under Maria Tipo for piano and Arpad Gerecz for orchestral conducting. His exceptional abilities were recognized through several awards won at prestigious competitions, such as the Rahn Competition in Zurich in 1985, the Pembaur Competition in Bern in 1986, the ARD International Competition in Munich in 1987, and the Geza Anda Competition in 1988. He also completed his piano studies in Paris with Dominique Merlet. In 1993, Ricardo Castro won the first prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition in England, becoming the first Latin American to achieve this distinction since the competition’s inception. This victory propelled him onto the international stage and earned him considerable recognition. He has been invited to perform with renowned orchestras worldwide, including the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Tonhalle in Zurich, BBC London Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, among others. He has collaborated with esteemed musicians such as Sir Simon Rattle, Martha Argerich, Leif Segerstam, Kazimierz Kord, and Midori. In addition to his achievements as a pianist, Ricardo Castro has also distinguished himself as a conductor. In 2007, he created the NEOJIBA program in Brazil, inspired by the Venezuelan El Sistema model, which aims to provide musical opportunities to underprivileged children and youth. As the general director of NEOJIBA and artistic director of the NEOJIBA Orchestra, he has conducted numerous concerts in Brazil and during international tours in Europe and the United States. Alongside his career as a performer and conductor, Ricardo Castro is also a renowned educator. In 2020, he was appointed as a professor at the Geneva Haute École de Musique, where he leads the keyboard instruments department. He also teaches at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Italy, where he created an innovative course on conducting from the keyboard. Ricardo Castro is acclaimed by both critics and audiences for his virtuosity, musicality, and passion for music. He continues to inspire and influence numerous musicians and music lovers worldwide. His critically acclaimed recordings showcase his technical mastery and captivating interpretation of major repertoire works. With his exceptional journey and contributions to music education for young people, Ricardo Castro embodies artistic excellence and social commitment. His dedication to the promotion of classical music and access to culture for all has earned him international recognition, including being the first Brazilian to be named an honorary member of the Royal Philharmonic Society. Over the years, Ricardo Castro has built a solid reputation as a talented pianist and conductor, establishing himself as one of the most accomplished representatives of contemporary classical music. His unwavering passion for music and constant desire to explore new artistic horizons continue to shape his career, allowing him to touch the hearts of listeners and leave a lasting impact in the world of music.
David Grimal, violin
A musician renowned for his intellectual curiosity, his taste for all kinds of musical adventures and his commitment to society, David Grimal regularly performs on the world’s greatest stages: Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, Vienna’s Musikverein, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, London’s Wigmore Hall, Zurich’s Tonhalle, New York’s Lincoln Center, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Budapest’s Liszt Academy, Geneva’s Victoria Hall, Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, Brussels’ Bozar… David Grimal has collaborated as soloist with the Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de Chambre d’Europe, Berliner Symphoniker, Russian National Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Gulbenkian Foundation Orchestra Lisbon, Sinfonia Varsovia. He has performed alongside conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Heinrich Schiff, Lawrence Foster, Emmanuel Krivine, Mikhail Pletnev, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Peter Eötvös, Andriss Nelsons, Jukka Pekka Saraste, Christian Arming… Numerous composers have dedicated their works to him: Marc-André Dalbavie, Brice Pauset, Thierry Escaich, Lisa Lim, Jean-François Zygel, Alexandre Gasparov, Victor Kissine, Fuminori Tanada, Ivan Fedele, Philippe Hersant, Anders Hillborg, Oscar Bianchi, Guillaume Connesson, Frédéric Verrières, Eric Montalbetti, Richard Dubugnon, Menachem Zur, Graciane Finzi… For 20 years, David Grimal has devoted part of his career to developing Les Dissonances, of which he is the founder and musical and artistic director. David Grimal has brought together musicians from some of Europe’s finest orchestras, as well as many young talents at the start of their careers, to experience music as a rediscovered joy, tackling the great symphonic repertoire in the spirit of chamber music under his musical direction.The orchestra has been a regular guest on major European stages and international festivals. Films of concerts given by Les Dissonances have been broadcast in over 60 countries. Today he works as soloist and conductor on the Dissonances model with numerous orchestras: Strasbourg, Metz, Galicia, Budapesti Vonosok, Anima Chamber Orchestra, Cracovia, Bilbao, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Radio Bucarest, Murcia, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Neojiba, Kuopio, Sonderjylland, Trondheim, Enescu Philharmonic, Lille … David Grimal has recorded for EMI, Harmonia Mundi, Aeon, Naïve, Transart, Dissonances records and is currently recording for La Dolce Volta. His recordings have been acclaimed by the press: BBC choice, Choc de l’année Classica, Arte selection, ffff Telerama, diapason d’or etc. A sought-after chamber musician, David Grimal is a guest at the greatest international festivals. Today, he regularly performs in piano trio with Philippe Cassard and Anne Gastinel, and in recital with pianist Itamar Golan. David Grimal, for whom the transmission of knowledge to young musicians has always been essential, created in 2022 the Lumières d’Europe academy festival under the presidency of Serge Haroche, Nobel Prize winner in Physics. Lumières d’Europe is aimed at talented young musicians at the start of their careers, who are invited to work and perform alongside international artists in concert. Leading scholars are invited to shed philosophical, literary, historical or scientific light on the themes addressed in each session. Lumières d’Europe takes place in several European capitals, in collaboration with major cultural institutions (Fondation Royaumont, Institut Weizmann, Jerusalem Music Center, Festival International Georges Enescu, Institut de France, Collège de France…) and contributes to the professional integration of young European musicians. In 2004, David Grimal also created L’Autre Saison: a season of concerts in aid of the homeless in Paris, now in partnership with ARTE, where the greatest artists have performed and which has enabled over 400 people to escape from extreme poverty. David Grimal was made a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 2008 by the French Ministry of Culture.A renowned pedagogue, David Grimal teaches violin at the Musikhochschule in Saarbrücken and at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, and is regularly invited to sit on juries at major international competitions and give masterclasses around the world. He plays the 1710 Ex-Roederer Stradivarius and the Don Quichotte built for him by Jacques Fustier.He plays bows by Louis Tourte, Dominique Peccatte and Pierre Grunberger, depending on the repertoire.
Gustav Rivinius, cello
Gustav Rivinius is the first and only German musician to be awarded a First Prize Gold Medal at the 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. In addition, he received a special prize for the best interpretation of a Tchaikovsky composition, outperforming all other competitors. Since then he has appeared with leading musicians, orchestras and conductors around the world. Among the many highlights of an illustrious career, Gustav Rivinius has performed with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Lorin Maazel, Ingo Metzmacher and Hans Zender. In celebrations marking the re-opening of the Spanish Hall at Prague Castle, Gustav Rivinius joined the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under Vaclav Neumann, and in a gala marking the 50th anniversary of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, where he has been invited back as soloist many times. In the US, Gustav Rivinius has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and with orchestras in Saint Louis, Cincinnati, Washington D.C. and with the Houston Symphony. In Tokyo, he took the stage with the Moscow Philharmonic, in Seoul with the KBS Symphony Orchestra and in Beijing with the National Ballet Orchestra. He has worked together with conductors such as Marek Janowski, Christoph Eschenbach and Dmitri Kitajenko. He has also played alongside orchestras of Lisbon, Toulouse, Lyon, the Helsinki Philharmonic and the Swedish Radio Orchestra, as well as in Lucerne with the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich. Gustav Rivinius has appeared with all of Germany’s radio symphony orchestras as well as with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, the Leipziger Gewandhausorchester and the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin. Along with his solo work, Gustav Rivinius has a passion for chamber music. He plays regularly alongside his brothers in the Rivinius Piano Quartet and performs recitals with his brother Paul at the piano. Gustav Rivinius is also an annual participant in the Heimbach Spannungen festival, where he performs alongside his muscial friends Lars Vogt, Christian Tetzlaff, Antje Weithaas, Isabelle Faust and Sharon Kam, and in numerous festival CD recordings. Rivinius founded the Gasparo da Saló Trio, the Bartholdy String Quintet and the Tammuz Piano Quartet, which recorded both piano quartets by composer George Enescu for the cpo label. This label also released Gustav Rivinius’ performance of the Cello Concerto by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari accompanied by the Frankfurt Radio Sympony Orchstra under Alan Francis, and Henze’s Ode to the West Wind featuring the RSO Saarbrücken conducted by Stanislaw Skrowaczewki was released by Arte Nova. Gustav Rivinius recorded the Brahms Clarinet Trio along with Sharon Kam and Martin Helmchen for Berlin Classics. For many years Gustav Rivinius has been a Professor at the University of Music in Saarbrücken. He is cofounder of the Kammermusiktage Mettlach and thus has been influencing the musical landscape of his native Saarland for over 30 years. He teaches a number of masterclasses annually, including at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, and is a regular juror at major music competitions and sat on the jury at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
Udi Perlman, composer in residence
Born in 1990 in Tel Aviv, Udi Perlman is an award-winning composer whose music showcases a distinctive fusion of influences from his upbringing in Israel with contemporary classical music sensibilities. With a penchant for crafting captivating musical narratives and unexpected formal twists, Perlman’s work has been hailed as ‘fascinating, surprising, rich, and colorful’ (Haaretz). With a vibrant harmonic palette and kaleidoscopic instrumental textures, his genre-bending compositions often playfully transform and recontextualize simple, ordinary musical gestures, revealing hidden beauty and evoking emotional expressiveness. Perlman’s orchestral, chamber, and vocal works have received recognition and commissions from institutions and ensembles such as the Aspen Music Festival, Bang on a Can Summer Festival, European Capital of Culture Festival, American Guild of Organists, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Yale Philharmonia, Philharmonie der Nationen, Israel Sinfonietta Beer Sheva, The Yale Glee Club, Ensemble Modern Academy, Meitar Ensemble, Israel Contemporary Players, Jerusalem Street Orchestra, Arab-Jewish Youth Orchestra, the Israeli Flute Choir, Tacet(i) Ensemble, Tremolo Ensemble, MultiPiano Ensemble, Omer String Quartet, and the Lysander Piano Trio. His works have been performed in Israel, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Austria, Britain, and the United States. Perlman has been honored with various accolades, including the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Ronald G. Pogorzelski and Lester D. Yankee Award from the American Guild of Organists, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Composer Award, the Rena Greenwald Memorial Prize from the Yale School of Music, the François Schapira Prize for Composition from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, and the 1st Prize at the Israel Conservatory’s National Composition Competition. Additionally, Perlman has received scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, the Israeli Composers League, the Siday Fellowship for Musical Creativity, and the Baden-Württemberg-Stipendium. He was composer-in-residence at MacDowell, I-Park Foundation, and Herrenhaus Edenkoben, and also held fellowships at the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA and Meitar Ensemble’s Tedarim Project for Contemporary Music. In 2021, Perlman was recognized by the Haaretz newspaper as one of the nine ‘most promising Israeli contemporary composers’.
Currently, Perlman is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition at the Yale School of Music, where his doctoral thesis won the 2022 Friedmann Thesis Prize. He holds degrees from the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin (Artist Diploma) and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (B. Mus. & M.Mus.). His mentors include Christopher Theofanidis, Aaron Jay Kernis, David Lang, Martin Bresnick, Jörg Widmann, Wolfgang Rihm, Yinam Leef, and Menachem Wissenberg. He resides with his wife in Berlin.
Scientists
Serge Haroche, Nobel Prize in Physics
Serge Haroche is a French-Moroccan physicist. After his studies at the University of Paris VI, he worked for almost ten years at the CNRS. He developed new methods for laser spectroscopy, based on the study of quantum beats and superradiance. He taught in many prestigious institutions and since 2001, he is a professor at the Collège de France and holds the chair of quantum physics. On 9 October 2012 Haroche was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, together with the American physicist David Wineland, for their work regarding measurement and manipulation of individual quantum systems.
Nicolas Grimal, permanent secretary of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
Nicolas Grimal was awarded the Agrégation in Classics in 1971 and the Doctorat d’Etat in 1984. Since 1988, he has been Professor of Egyptology at the Sorbonne (Paris IV). From 1989 to 1999 he was director of the Institut français d’archéologie orientale in Cairo. Since 1990, he has been scientific director of the Franco-Egyptian Centre for the Study of the Temples of Karnak (CFEETK). He held the Chair of Egyptology at the Collège de France from 2000 to 2020. Since 2022, he has been Permanent Secretary of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. He was awarded the Prix Gaston-Maspero by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1987 and the Prix Diane Potier-Boes by the Académie Française in 1989.
Jérôme Akoka, violinist
Born into a family of musicians, Jérôme Akoka studied in Paris, Budapest, Moscow and Siena, before beginning to play as a soloist and chamber musician, and as solo violinist in various groups. He has performed with orchestras and in recital all around the world and has recorded several albums to critical acclaim. Several composers have called on him to premiere their works. After being a member of the Simon Quartet, he joined the Orpheus Quartet for an international career that lasted until 2008. Solo violinist of the Deutsche Kammer Akademie since 2004, he is also guest conductor of this ensemble. In the field of early music, he joined the Concert d’Astrée after directing the Ensemble Fragonard, which he founded. He takes part in the activities of the Chambre Philharmonique and the Cercle de l’Harmonie. He is artistic director of the music programme at the Abbaye Port-Royal des Champs. Jérôme Akoka is a member of the Prometheus 21 Ensemble.
Élie Barnavi, historian
Élie Barnavi is a historian and essayist, and Professor Emeritus of the History of the Modern Occident at Tel Aviv University. From 2000 to 2002, he served as Israel’s ambassador to France. Since 1998, as scientific adviser to the Museum of Europe in Brussels and scientific director of the Tempora society, he has directed or co-directed the scientific committees of several exhibitions. Élie Barnavi has published around twenty works on the French and European sixteenth century and on the contemporary history of Israel and the Jewish people, as well as studies in professional journals in Europe, the United States and Canada and political analysis articles in the mainstream press in Israel and abroad (France, Belgium, Spain, Italy). Élie Barnavi has received several awards, including the Grand Prix de la Francophonie from the Académie Française in 2007 for his entire work. Élie Barnavi is a member of several scientific and advisory boards. In France, he chaired the international symposium on the fiftieth anniversary of the Ministry of Culture in 2009.
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