Described by The Times as ‘God’s gift to the flute’, Sharon Bezaly was Andrea Ratuski's guest live in studio in The Diamond Lane on Classic 107.

Sharon Bezaly is in Winnipeg this week to perform with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. The concert is Wednesday night (Nov 26)at Westminster United Church, 7:30 PM.  We invited her to come down to the studio for a quick chat with us!

 

 

Sharon was chosen as ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ by the prestigious Klassik Echo in Germany in 2002 and as ‘Young Artist of the Year’ at the Cannes Classical Awards in 2003. Classics Today has hailed her as ‘a flutist virtually without peer in the world today’ and International Record Review wrote: ‘Her recordings and concert appearances are typically more than simply triumphs: they are defining artistic events.’

Having started to play the flute at the age of 11, Sharon Bezaly gave her début concert as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta when she was 14. On the advice of Jean-Pierre Rampal she continued her studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris under Alain Marion, Raymond Guiot and Maurice Bourge, winning the Academy’s first prizes for flute and chamber music. She was subsequently invited by Sándor Végh to play as principal flautist in his Camerata Academica Salzburg, a position she held until his death in 1997.

Since then Sharon Bezaly has become one of the very rare ‘full-time’ international flute soloists. Sharon Bezaly is the first wind player to be chosen as artist in residence (2007–08) for the Residentie Orchestra, The Hague, under its chief conductor Neeme Järvi. Appearing as soloist at the London Proms (London Sinfonietta/Hickox) with live TV and Radio coverage, the last night of the Welsh Proms (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Hughes). With all of the BBC orchestras, the Minnesota Orchestra (Vänskä), Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (P. Järvi), The Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra (Brabbins), Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (Gilbert), Helsinki and Bergen (Litton) Philharmonic Orchestras, Gothenburg, Singapore and São Paulo Symphony Orchestras, Spanish and Belgium (Frank) National Orchestras, Rotterdam, Tokyo, Seoul, Malaysian and Osaka Philharmonic Orchestras, Tonkünstler Orchester Wien, Camerata Academica Salzburg and Swedish Chamber Orchestra, playing as soloist with orchestras and in recitals at prestigious venues such as the Vienna Musikverein, Kölner Philharmonie, Tokyo Suntory Hall, the Rudolfinum in Prague, Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels and both the Châtelet and Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Wigmore Hall.

Without neglecting the standard repertoire, Sharon Bezaly is committed to the music of our time and has inspired renowned composers as far-ranging as Sofia Gubaidulina, Kalevi Aho to write for her. To date Sharon Bezaly has seven dedicated concertos which she performs around the world. Sharon has commented: ’In recent years my sights have been turning towards a wider horizon and I hope that, by inspiring challenging composers to create new works, it could propel the flute further into the spotlight as well as provide standard repertoire for generations to come.