Bar Avni

First Prize winner of the 2024 La Maestra competition in Paris, Bar Avni captivated the jury, chaired by Natalie Stutzmann, and swept multiple prizes, including The Orchestra Prize, the Arte Prize, the Echo Award, and the Prize of the French Concert Halls and Orchestras. For the next two years, she will continue her work as a scholarship holder of the prestigious La Maestra Academy in collaboration with the Paris Mozart Orchestra. Her clear, elegant conducting style and imaginative programming have brought immediate invitations from major international orchestras.

From 2021 until 2024, Avni has served as Chief Conductor of the Bayer Philharmoniker, marking a historic first as its female conductor in over 120 years. Known for her commitment to young talent and music education, she has led impactful initiatives with the orchestra, underscoring her dedication to the next generation of musicians.

Praised by Diapason Magazine for her dynamic presence and refined musicality, Avni has led acclaimed performances with renowned ensembles such as the Israel Philharmonic, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Israel Chamber Orchestra. Her keen musical instincts and adaptability across a wide repertoire have led to fruitful collaborations with mentors like Barbara Hannigan, under whose guidance Avni made her debut earlier this year with the WDR Funkhaus Orchestra and the Gothenburg Symphony.

In the coming seasons, she is set to conduct esteemed orchestras, including the Orchestre National de Lille on tour, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de Bordeaux, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bremen Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Kammerorchester Basel, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino amongst others. She has had the privilege of assisting renowned conductors, including Klaus Mäkelä and Myung-Whun Chung, and has been invited by Gustavo Dudamel to assist him with the New York Philharmonic this season.

A classically trained percussionist, Avni began her musical journey with Israel’s leading orchestras before her passion for conducting led her to study in Tel Aviv with Yoav Talmi. She subsequently became assistant conductor of the Israel Chamber Orchestra under Talmi’s mentorship and went on to further her studies with Martin Sieghart in Graz and Ulrich Windfuhr in Hamburg. Her professional trajectory accelerated after her 2017/18 tenure as assistant to Peter Kuhn at the Bergischer Symphoniker and in 2021, she earned the distinguished International Kurt Masur Institute prize as its youngest scholarship holder.

Photo: Jean-Baptiste Millot