For the 2025-2026 academic year, AICF staff conducted 22 days of auditions for 580 artists. Auditions included 394 music excellence candidates, 120 dance excellence candidates, and 66 applicants seeking international study opportunities in music, dance, and art. This rigorous process reflects AICF’s enduring commitment to artistic excellence and equal access to opportunity.

After the competitive jury process, AICF awarded 225 Creative Excellence scholarships, including 98 continuing grantees and 46 first-time recipients, with total funding reaching $501,220. In addition, 12 Study Abroad scholarships enabled outstanding artists to pursue advanced training at leading international institutions such as Juilliard, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Royal Academy of Music in London, and other prominent academies in Germany, France, and the United States.

AICF continued its commitment to geographic equity in 2025, supporting artists from Israel’s periphery through its grantmaking and outreach efforts. Forty-four Creative Excellence and Study Abroad grantees resided in peripheral regions, reinforcing AICF’s mission to identify and nurture talent nationwide.

Inbar Camon, 19
Trumpet, AICF grantee since 2023

“I wanted to thank you for making my dream of being a musician easier to achieve. Playing the trumpet became a way to escape the hard reality we have in Israel right now. And I wanted to thank you for enabling me to have less worries about the way I will achieve my dream, to be a professional player.” 

In 2025, AICF’s Instrument Loan Program provided world-class instruments to 30 top-performing musicians. Three academies, Hassadna Jerusalem Music Conservatory, The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and The Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, also received instruments which benefitted dozens of students. The instrument bank remained a vital resource supporting artistic excellence, professional readiness, and access to high-quality instruments for Israel’s most promising young musicians.

Gershon Gerchikov
Violin

“As a professional performing violinist and a member of the Ariel Quartet, the Guarnerius Petrus violin I play is not simply a tool of the trade but an essential artistic partner. The instrument’s depth of tone, clarity, and responsiveness have been invaluable to me in my work. Having access to a violin of this quality makes an immeasurable difference in my ability to communicate and perform at the highest artistic level.”

In June 2025, AICF officially launched Beyond Talent, expanding its long-standing commitment to artistic excellence into a career acceleration platform for emerging and mid-career Israeli artists. After Beta testing in 2024, Beyond Talent became a fully operational program, responding to a clear and urgent need. Within months of its launch, hundreds of artists registered to participate.

In a year marked by significant external barriers for Israeli artists, Beyond Talent focused on helping artists in Israel and around the globe develop the skills, connections, and strategic insight needed to build sustainable professional careers. The program moves beyond artistic development by connecting artists directly with the people, opportunities, and expertise required to advance their work internationally. Artists meet senior industry leaders they would not otherwise encounter one-to-one. They receive personalized professional guidance from mentors and gain insight into the inner workings of their industries through targeted workshops, industry conversations, and professional development sessions.

By the end of 2025, the Beyond Talent community had grown to include 1,300 professional Israeli artists worldwide, working across visual arts, music, dance, and interdisciplinary practices. Members are based in Israel, the United States, Europe, and beyond, and continue to engage through industry sessions, mentorship, and professional events.

In 2025 alone, the program facilitated more than 100 one-to-one sessions between artists and leading industry professionals and engaged artists and industry professionals across more than ten countries, with strong participation in major cultural hubs including New York, Berlin, Tel Aviv, and Vienna. These focused meetings brought artists into direct conversation with curators, agents, museum directors, institutional leaders, festival producers, radio broadcasters, and established artists. For many participants, these meetings represented their first direct access to key decision-makers, shortening the path to meaningful professional opportunities and insight.

Alexandra Segal
Classical pianist, Graz, Austria

“Receiving resources like these, free of charge, is truly not something I take for granted! So often I’ve really felt the lack of someone in the industry I could consult with – to get proper guidance on how to communicate with agents, manage portfolios, etc. This is a rare and valuable opportunity for young artists. I’m really grateful to you all, and I’m excited to see how the program will develop.”

Yali Zaken
Classical pianist

“I felt the meeting contributed a great deal to me. I feel that through it, I received information I wouldn’t have gotten elsewhere, or from people I have access to here in Israel. The perspective of an agent was very eye-opening for me, and I’d be very happy to meet with Sonia again.”

Photo credit: Maxim Pollak