Yuval Zorn is one of the most prominent Israeli conductors of his generation and is particularly active in opera and contemporary music. His work embraces a wide repertoire, and his performances both as a conductor and a pianist have gained him critical acclaim for their sensitivity, energy, and richness of detail. Passionate about forging collaborations and bringing new work to the concert and opera stage, he is currently the Artistic Director of the Israel Music Fest - one of the key events in the Israeli musical calendar. A former Kapellmeister at the Frankfurt Opera and an alumnus of the Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, he has performed with leading opera houses, orchestras, and ensembles as well as at major festivals in Israel, Europe, and the Americas. Future plans include the opening concert of the CEME festival in Tel Aviv and his debut at the Olympia Theatre in Athens.
As a guest conductor, Yuval Zorn has conducted at the Israeli Opera, the Frankfurt Opera, the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, the Royal Opera House - Covent Garden, the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater, the Rossini Opera Festival, the Münchener Biennale, the Ruhr Triennale, and the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, among others. He has worked with leading orchestras such as the London Philharmonia, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Bochumer Symphoniker, the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Symphony Orchestra, and the Jerusalem Camerata as well as with leading ensembles such as Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Resonanz, Israeli Contemporary Players, and Ensemble Meitar with whom he toured Canada, the USA, and Switzerland. Yuval Zorn is also active as a pianist both play-directing and in recital. His first solo album LANDSCAPES - released in 2020 by the British label Rubicon Classics - was lauded by the critics of Gramophone and the BBC Music Magazine, who described it as “an impressive release on all counts.”
Born in 1976 in Jerusalem, Yuval Zorn graduated from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance in Piano and Conducting and is an alumnus of the National Opera Studio in London. He then joined the music staff at the Glyndebourne Opera House and at the English National Opera, before joining the Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2002. During his time at the ROH, he joined the music staff on numerous productions, primarily as a repetiteur and assistant to Sir Antonio Pappano. Since leaving the ROH, he has further broadened his opera repertoire by assisting conductors such as Daniel Harding, Iván Fischer, Kazushi Ono, Kirill Petrenko, and Sebastian Weigle, among others, in houses and festivals such as Glyndebourne, the Danish Royal Theatre, The Liceo in Barcelona, Aix en Provence, and many others.
In 2008, he was appointed Kapellmeister at the Frankfurt Opera following his successful debut there, a position he held until 2012. During that time, he conducted a broad range of productions from mainstream opera repertoire to new productions, creative collaborations, and world premieres for which he has won particular acclaim.
Over the past decade, he has been devoting part of his time to education. He currently serves as a teacher of conducting at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and regularly works with the David Goldmann Programme for outstanding young musicians run by the Mishkenot Sha’ananim Music Centre. Zorn also teaches at Meitar Ensemble’s TEDARIM and CEME projects and was the Music Director of the Mendi Rodan Symphony Orchestra at the Jerusalem Academy between 2019 and 2022.
© Yuval Zorn, November 2023
