Inbal Megiddo
cello
Israeli cellist Inbal Megiddo brings to her performances years of experience, the influence of master teachers, and praise from influential musicians. Maestro Zubin Mehta describes her as “an extremely talented, very musical musician.” At her New York debut at the Lincoln Center her playing was hailed by the press as having “magical expression and technical expertise.” She has a “warm lustrous communicative way… the performance was sincerity personified!”
Ms Megiddo has given many concerts in Europe, Asia and America. Among these are a recital in the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Carnegie Hall in New York, her Berlin debut with the Berlin Symphony with Maestro Lior Shambadal at the Philharmonie and a recital at the Staatsoper. She has had performances and radio broadcasts with the Jerusalem Symphony under the direction of Sergiu Comissiona, live recital broadcasts in several countries including Germany, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, Israel (Mishkenot Sha’ananim Music Center, and Eden Tamir Center in Jerusalem), and the USA (Chicago – the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series – and New York’s Bob Sherman Show on WQXR). She has performed and toured extensively with recital partner, pianist Saleem Abboud Ashkar. A champion of contemporary compositions, Ms Megiddo has made a recording of Israeli composer Hanna Levy’s works, a recording of works by Douglas Lilburn for the Atoll label, and premiered works of composers including Ezra Laderman, Dave Brubeck, and Ofer Ben Amots. She has also regularly recorded and performed with the Grammy Award nominated group, The Yale Cellos. Volume 1 of her recording of the Beethoven Sonatas and Variations with pianist Jian Liu was released on Rattle Records in 2011 to critical acclaim, with Vol. 2 scheduled for release in 2014. In September 2012, she gave the New Zealand premiere of the Barber Cello Concerto, where her playing was hailed in the press as “Superb!” and “virtuosic, brilliant and powerful.” Other recent and upcoming engagements include performances with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Ukraine Philharmonic, the Lithuanian Philharmonic Orchestra, performances at the Lincoln Center in New York, NZ premieres of the Weinberg and Villa Lobos cello concertos in Wellington, and concerto and recital tours in Israel, Australia, New Zealand, and throughout Asia.
Inbal Megiddo began her cello studies at the age of two, and gave her first performances a year later. She holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from Yale University, where she studied with and was assistant to Professor Aldo Parisot, and worked and collaborated with Erick Friedman, Jesse Levin, Ben Verdery, Peter Oundjian, Boris Berman, Peter Frankl, Claude Frank, and the Tokyo String Quartet. Among her other cello teachers were Prof. Uzi Wiesel at the University of Tel Aviv, Prof. Shmuel Magen at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem, and she received private lessons from Mstislav Rostropovich. She later performed as part of Maestro Rostropovich’s cello ensemble to mark the tenth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. She performed in master classes with such artists as Janos Starker, Heinrich Schiff, Michel Strauss, Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman and Yuri Bashmet. Ms Megiddo has participated in the Manchester, Banff, Rolandseck (Bonn) and West-East Divan festivals as a soloist and chamber musician.
Inbal taught at Yale University for five years as assistant to Aldo Parisot, has given master classes at universities and festivals including the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin, University of North Texas, University of North Carolina, Central Conservatory in Beijing, the La Salle School for the Arts and Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore, the International Cello Congress in Israel, Dublin International Master Classes, and Rubin Academy in Jerusalem. Ms. Megiddo is the founder and director of the Cellophonia festival in Wellington, NZ. She was appointed a resource panelist for Singapore School of the Arts, is a fellow of Calhoun College at Yale University, and is Cello Lecturer at the New Zealand School of Music.
Ms. Megiddo has received many awards and prizes, including first prizes at the William Waite competition, the Friends of Music competition, the Max Varon Fund, and the Aviezer Foundation. Since the age of six, she has been a recipient of the America Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship, under the patronage of Isaac Stern. She was selected by the Stradivari Society as a rising star, receiving use of a Stradivarius cello on loan.
