Assif Binness

Music

Assif Binness

Assif Binness was born in Israel in November 1997 and began studying the cello at the age of five. He attended the Givatayim Conservatory, where he studied under Prof. Shmuel Magen. He later continued his studies at Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, and between 2015–2018, he studied with Prof. Hillel Zori at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music. During his military service, Assif served with the status of an outstanding musician.

In 2022, Assif completed his Bachelor’s degree at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in the class of Prof. Frans Helmerson. He has participated in the David Goldman Music Program for Outstanding Musicians in Jerusalem and is a grant recipient from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

Assif has won several prestigious awards, including first prize in both the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music String Competition and the Chamber Music Competition, second prize in the Paul Ben-Haim Competition, and first prize in the Aviv Competition. He has participated in notable festivals, including the Keshet Eilon Summer Mastercourse and the Heifetz International Music Institute. Additionally, he has benefited from masterclasses with renowned artists such as Ralph Kirshbaum, Gary Hoffman, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, and Daniel Barenboim.

Assif regularly performs as the principal cellist of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Daniel Barenboim, and is a member of the Divan Ensemble. In the 2022/23 season, he served as an academist with the Staatskapelle Berlin at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.

Assif performs on a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini Piacenza cello from 1743, generously loaned to him by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.