Yossi Zivoni (; born Joseph Krasilshikoff) is a violinist, born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

of parents, both of whom were doctors. His middle-class upbringing instilled in him a passion for music and he began to play the flute. At the age of six, while playing his flute on the balcony of his house, he attracted the attention of the violin teacher Rivka Minkova, who immediately knocked on the door and proposed violin lessons. After six months of playing on a quarter size violin, Yossi gave his first public performance in Tel Aviv. Zivoni went on to study with Odeon Partos, under whom he attended and graduated from the

Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (), is a school for the music and the performing arts in Jerusalem. It is located on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. History The Jerusalem Conservatory of Music was founded in ...

. Zivoni then studied at the Brussels Conservatoire under

André Gertler André Gertler (26 July 1907 – 23 July 1998) was a Hungarian classical violinist and teacher. Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (1940–1977), Professor at the Cologne Academy of Music (1954–1957), Professor at the College of Mus ...

, from where he graduated with the highest honours. By now he had already been a winner at the

Paganini Competition The Paganini Competition (aka Premio Paganini or Paganini Concore) is an international violin competition named after the famed virtuoso and founder of contemporary violin technique Niccolò Paganini. Created in 1954 it has been carried out ever s ...

In Genoa, the Bavarian Radio Competition in Munich, and the

Queen Elisabeth Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition (, ) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in City of Brussels, Brussels. The competition is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1 ...

in Brussels in 1963. He made his concert debut at Amsterdam in 1964. Yossi toured extensively over the world and has played concertos with leading orchestras and conductors. Yossi currently lives in London with his wife Jeanne, formerly herself a leading mezzo-soprano. As a chamber musician, Zivoni led the

Gabrieli Quartet The Gabrieli String Quartet is a well-known string quartet musical ensemble founded in 1966. It has a long residency association with Essex University, UK. Personnel 1st violin: *Kenneth Sillito (1966-1986) * John Georgiadis (1986-1990) * Konst ...

from 1995 to 2000 and formed the Zivoni Quartet in 2004. Zivoni has taught at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

from 1968 and at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

as a Professor from 1997. Between 1990 and 1996 he was artistic director at the Entrecasteaux International Music Festival in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. He is frequently a jury member of international competitions, including recently the Andrea Postacchini Competition in

Fermo Fermo (; ancient: Firmum Picenum) is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo. Fermo is on a hill, the Sabulo, elevation , on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway. History The oldest huma ...

, Italy in 2015. He is currently principally a Professor and dedicates most of his time to teaching.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zivoni, Yossi Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Israeli male violinists 21st-century Israeli violinists 21st-century male musicians