Yoav Talmi
Yoav Talmi
Yoav Talmi, recipient of the Israeli Prime Minister Prize for Composers and the Serge Koussevitzky Memorial Prize for conductors, is celebrated as one of Israel’s most distinguished conductors-composers on the international scene.
Conductor Emeritus of the Quebec Symphony in Canada and Head of the Orchestral Conducting Department at Tel Aviv University’s Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, he is in demand worldwide for concerts and masterclasses in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South America and China.
In addition to his 13-year tenure as Artistic Director of the Quebec Symphony, Maestro Talmi has held positions as Chief Conductor of the Hamburg Symphony, Principal Guest Conductor of the Munich Philharmonic, Music Director of the San Diego Symphony, Music Director of the Arnhem Philharmonic, as well as two stints as Music Director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra. He was also among the founders of the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv and served as its first Music Director.
Born in Israel, Talmi is a graduate of the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv and the Juilliard School in New York, where he earned degrees in both composition and conducting with grants from the America Israel Cultural Foundation (AICF).
Although Yoav Talmi is known today primarily as a conductor, he always finds time for composing, arranging and orchestrating. Upon his graduation from the Tel Aviv Music Academy he won the Boskovich Prize for young composers. In 1963, at age nineteen, his march, “Tzahal Marches”, won first prize in a competition and became the official march of the IDF.
His compositions include: ‘How she sat alone’, a Symphony for Soprano and Orchestra (2019), Moods for Piano solo (2019), Wind Quintet (2018), Clarinet Quintet (2016), ‘Animi Motus’ for orchestra and children’s (or women’s) choir (2015), ‘De Profundis’ for choir and orchestra (2011), Elegy for Strings, Timpani & Accordion (‘Dachau Reflections’) (1996), Music for Flute & String Orchestra (1965/2015), Overture on Mexican Themes (1969), ‘Suite of Israeli Songs’ for Flute & Chamber Orchestra (or Piano) (1967/2000),‘Dreams’ (‘Halomot’) for Choir a cappella (1972), Three Humoresques for choir a cappella (2017), Three Monologues for Flute (or Cello). Talmi’s music is published by The Israel Music Institute (IMI), Kalmus & and Carl Fischer (USA), Production d’Oz-Doberman-Yppan (Canada) and Broekmans en van Poppel (Amsterdam).
Talmi’s guest conducting engagements include all major London orchestras, the Berlin Philharmonic, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw; the Symphony Orchestras of Vienna, Hamburg and Prague; the Philharmonic Orchestras of St. Petersburg, Oslo, Stockholm, Warsaw, Munich, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Israel. Further more, he worked with the Orchestre National de France, Zurich’s Tonhalle, Rome’s Santa Cecilia, orchestras in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Japan, Hong Kong, China, New Zealand and South America. In North America he guest conducted the orchestras of Pittsburgh, Detroit, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas, Indianapolis, Montreal, Vancouver, Rochester, Seattle, Kansas City and others.
Yoav Talmi has recorded for Chandos, Decca, EMI, Naxos, Teldec, CBC Records (Toronto), Atma and Analekta (Montreal) and IMI (Israel). His recording of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony with the Oslo Philharmonic won the prestigious “Grand Prix du Disque” in Paris, while his many recordings with the Quebec Symphony, the San Diego Symphony and the Israel Chamber Orchestra won significant prizes and were raved by the professional media around the globe.
Maestro Talmi holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Laval University in Quebec, Canada .
