The Music Conservatory

Shmuel Ashkenasi, violin
The Music Conservatory Faculty

Born in Tel-Aviv, Israel in 1941, Shmuel Ashkenasi attended the Musical Academy of Tel-Aviv and gave his first public performance while still very young. He came to the United States on a scholarship to study with Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute. The international music community discovered Ashkenasi quickly, at Belgium’s Queen Elizabeth Competition, at Washington’s Meriwether Post Competition (first prize) and at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition in 1962.

Ashkenasi has toured the Soviet Union twice and concretizes every year throughout Europe, Israel and the Far East. He often performs with American orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, National Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, and the orchestras of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Zurich, Rotterdam, Geneva and Stockholm; Ashkenasi has been the choice of many of the world’s most distinguished conductors, including Stokowski, Boehm, Kempe, Leinsdorf, Kubelik, Skrowaczewski and Ancerl. In addition, as first violinist of the famed Vermeer Quartet, he has gained a reputation as one of the world’s outstanding chamber musicians.

Press Comments:
“Ashkenasi performs all the astonishing acrobatics as if they were the easiest thing in the world. His performances put the music first and one can appreciate how remarkable (these concertos) were for their time. Any simple phrase is so beautifully and artistically expressed. You will have gathered that here is a really exceptional violinist and artist.”
-The Gramophone, London

“Mr. Ashkenasi played with a great deal of dash and sparkle. He has aplomb and the instincts of a virtuoso violinist.”
-New York Post

“Ashkenasi’s performance demonstrated his strong temperament. He has an extraordinary feeling for color. He has imagination and a big technique.”
-New York Post

“Genuine Talent and profoundly gifted. His tone is sweet, beautiful and noble.
-The Vienna Express

“A masterly technique. Warm, clear and strong.
-The Japan Times

The Music Conservatory The Faculty

Shmuel Ashkenasi, violin
First Violin, Vermeer Quartet
Vermeer Quartet

CCPA Faculty since 2002