Eli Eban is an Israeli-American clarinetist and son of the late Israeli diplomat

Abba Eban Abba Solomon Meir Eban (; he, אבא אבן ; born Aubrey Solomon Meir Eban; 2 February 1915 – 17 November 2002) was an Israeli diplomat and politician, and a scholar of the Arabic and Hebrew languages. During his career, he served as For ...

Education

Eli Eban was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and received his early musical training in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, studying the clarinet with Richard Lesser and Yona Ettlinger. After serving in the Israeli Army, he was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, where he studied with

Anthony Gigliotti Anthony Gigliotti (May 13, 1922December 3, 2001) was an American clarinetist and music teacher. He was one of the world's most famous and most accomplished classical clarinet players for most of the second half of the 20th century.''Ex-family feared ...

Performance career

Immediately upon graduation, he was appointed principal clarinetist of the Israel Radio Symphony under

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...

. Shortly thereafter he was invited by

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

to join the

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is an Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert venue ...

, where he spent thirteen seasons playing and recording all the major orchestral repertoire under internationally renowned conductors such as

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...

, Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Christoph von Dohnanyi,

Christoph Eschenbach Christoph Eschenbach (; born 20 February 1940) is a German pianist and conductor. Early life Eschenbach was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland). His parents were Margarethe (née Jaross) and Heribert Ringmann. He was orphaned durin ...

James Levine James Lawrence Levine (; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March 1 ...

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus O ...

, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Georg Solti, and

Klaus Tennstedt Klaus Hermann Wilhelm Tennstedt (; June 6, 1926 – January 11, 1998) was a German conductor from Merseburg. Known for his interpretation of the Austro-German repertoire, especially his sympathetic approaches towards Gustav Mahler, Tennsted ...

. He performed as soloist with the

on many occasions, and has also appeared as soloist with the

English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. The orchestra regularly tours in the UK and internationall ...

at the Barbican Center, the City of London Sinfonia at Royal Festival Hall, the Salzburg Camerata, the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, the Israel Camerata

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, the

Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra The Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra (ICO) is a nonprofit chamber orchestra headquartered at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 2019-2020 it will celebrate its 35th season. History The orchestra was founded by musicologist David Urness ...

, and the

Louisville Orchestra The Louisville Orchestra is the primary orchestra in Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1937 by Robert Whitney (1904–1986) and Charles Farnsley, Mayor of Louisville. The Louisville Orchestra employs salaried musicians, and offers a wide ...

, among others. Mr. Eban tours extensively as a chamber musician, collaborating with world-renowned artists and ensembles. He has been guest artist with the Alexander, Audubon, Orion,

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

and Ying Quartets, and was a frequent participant of the

Marlboro Music Festival The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont, in the United States. Public performances are held each weekend while the school is in ses ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. While at Marlboro, he was invited by legendary Hungarian violinist Sandor Vegh to perform at the Prussia Cove festival in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where he drew critical acclaim from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' for his "high-powered, electrifying performances". His subsequent recordings for Meridian Records, London, were cited by the Penguin Guide To CDs as being "full of life and highly sensitive." He has also recorded for the Saphir, Crystal and Naxos labels. Mr. Eban was a member of Myriad, (a chamber ensemble formed by members of the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Se ...

) for seven years, and has often traveled to Eastern Europe to perform and teach as a visiting artist of the European Mozart Foundation. He divides his time between teaching at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

, performing with the

, and touring as a soloist and chamber musician. His summers are spent performing and teaching at the Sarasota Music Festival and playing principal clarinet in the

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra, and the resident summer orchestra of the Chautauqua Institution in western New York State. Founded in 1929, the ensemble plays concerts on most Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights thro ...

. Recent engagements include a world tour as acting principal clarinetist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Lorin Maazel, and critically acclaimed performances at London's

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...

Teaching career

Eli Eban was visiting professor of clarinet at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music ...

before joining the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 1990.

References

Biography
at the

website

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eban, Eli American classical clarinetists Israeli classical clarinetists Jacobs School of Music faculty Living people 21st-century clarinetists Year of birth missing (living people)