Saleem Abboud Ashkar

Saleem Ashkar at ZMF 2016

Saleem Abboud Ashkar ( Arabic سليم عبود أشقر Salim ʿAbbud ʾAschqar , DMG Salīm ʿAbbūd ʾAšqar ; * 1976 in Nazareth ) is a Palestinian - Israeli classical pianist .

Life and career

Saleem Ashkar was born in 1976 in Nazareth, Israel, to Palestinian Christians. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Maria Curcio in London and at the Hochschule für Musik with Arie Vardi in Hanover. Ashkar was discovered by Zubin Mehta , under whose direction he assisted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra as a soloist in the performance of Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto . As a result, he played frequently with Israel's major orchestras, including the Israel Chamber Orchestra and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra .

At the age of 22 he made his debut in New York's Carnegie Hall under Daniel Barenboim and has since performed with major orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic , the Filarmonica della Scala , the Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig , the London Symphony Orchestra , the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra , the NDR Symphony Orchestra , the Staatskapelle Berlin and other renowned orchestras in Europe. Saleem Ashkar works regularly with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti , Riccardo Chailly , Fabio Luisi , Lawrence Foster , Philippe Jordan , Nikolaj Znaider , Pietari Inkinen , Jakub Hrůša and David Afkham . Ashkar can also be heard at classical music festivals; in the past he played at the Beethovenfest Bonn , the Salzburg Festival , the Lucerne Festival , the Ravinia Festival , and the Ruhr Piano Festival , among others .

Ashkar has particularly distinguished himself as an interpreter of the works of Mendelssohn and Beethoven . He released recordings of Beethoven's piano concertos No. 1 and No. 4 as well as Mendelssohn's 1st and 2nd piano concertos and four Beethoven sonatas on Decca Records . He is working on a complete recording of the Beethoven sonatas.

Askar is committed to the musical promotion of refugee children and actively accompanies the Al-Farabi Music Academy , which was founded in autumn 2016 under the patronage of Daniel Barenboim . He lives in Berlin.

Discography (selection)

• Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4 with the NDR Symphony Orchestra under Ivor Bolton . Decca Records 2013.
• Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream; Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly . Decca Records 2014.
• Beethoven Piano Sonatas. Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2, No. 3 , Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10 No. 1 , Sonata No. 14, Op. 27, No. 2 in C sharp minor and Sonata No. 30, Op. 109 in E major . The picture was taken between January 3rd and 6th 2017 in the Kulturstaal at Schloss Britz . Decca Records 2017.

Web links

• Saleem Ashkar website
• Saleem Abboud Ashkar at Allmusic

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography at palestinemusicfestivals.org, accessed on May 30, 2015
2. ↑ Saleem Abboud Ashkar  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the Berlin State Opera , accessed on May 30, 2015  
3. ↑ In conversation: pianist Saleem Abboud Ashkar. WDR 3 , September 16, 2017, accessed January 15, 2018 . 
4. ↑ Jan Nechanický: “I became a German pianist”. Prager Zeitung , December 8, 2016, accessed January 16, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Al-Farabi Music Academy. German Children and Youth Foundation , accessed on January 15, 2018 . 
6. ↑ Ralf Döring: Saleem Ashkar thinks Germany is “strongly structured” . Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung of February 28, 2015, accessed on May 30, 2015