About
Zohar Alon-Shner is a versatile violinist who performs as soloist, concert master and chamber musician all over Europe and in Israel. He has played chamber concerts with renowned musicians, among which are Dame Emma Kirkby and Dorotee Oberlinger, and takes part regularly in festivals such as Oude Muziek Festival Utrecht, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci and Styriarte Festival.
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Zohar studied violin (B.Mus.) and music pedagogy (M.Mus, summa cum laude) at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, Tel-Aviv University. He continued his course of education at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, where he studied violin (MA) as well as baroque violin (BA, summa cum laude).
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Zohar’s interest in historically informed performance arose already during his studies in Tel-Aviv and he soon became a member of the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra. He is also a founding member of the Israeli early music ensemble In Camera XV, which offered unique, innovative concert programs, with music spanning between the late renaissance and the Galant style. He later became a member of the Neue Hofkapelle Graz and of Ārt House 17, two ensembles with whom he played in numerous staged performances as well as musical street theater across Europe, along with more traditional orchestral and chamber concerts.
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In his endeavor to move his audience, Zohar strives for captivating and imaginative interpretations, while considering all facets of the stylistic and historical context in which the music was perceived. The use of instruments and bows appropriate to the performed repertoire is a usual practice for him, as is the implementation of historical violin holds and bow grips. This, combined with his skillfulness in improvisation in various styles and his interest in historical concepts of music theory and composition, grants a distinct profundity and power to his performances.