Saleem Ashkar - NOSPR

Saleem Abboud Ashkar made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 22 and has since gone on to establish an exciting international career. Recent highlights included concerts with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He has been invited to participate in German tour with the Kammerakademie Potsdam performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and to perform the world premiere of David Coleman’s Piano Concerto.

Previous seasons have seen him perform with the Wiener Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Detroit, Saint Louis, Vancouver and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestras and on a three-week tour to Australia. He has a close relationship with many leading conductors including David Afkham, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Jakub Hrůša, Pietari Inkinen, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Kazushi Ono and Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider.

A dedicated recitalist and chamber musician, he has a particularly strong reputation as a Beethoven specialist and has performed a complete sonata cycle in Prague, Duisburg and at the Konzerthaus Berlin. During the 2021/2022 season he has performed recitals at Wigmore Hall in London, Queen’s Hall in Copenhagen and Milan Verdi Conservatory Hall. Other recent recital appearances have included the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin and Musikverein Wien.

He is Artistic Director of the Galilee Chamber Orchestra, formed of young and professional musicians to encourage collaboration between the Arab and Jewish communities in Israel. He works with the orchestra both as conductor and soloist. In 2021/2022 they made their debut at Carnegie Hall in a programme with Joshua Bell as soloist and at Koerner Hall, Toronto. Recent engagements included a highly acclaimed European tour, which included performances at Konzerthaus Berlin and Rheingau Musik Festival. He is closely involved in several other education projects, including the Al-Farabi Music Academy in Berlin which he co-founded, and which works with young people who don’t have access to a musical education.

His recent recordings have been for Decca: Piano Concertos by Mendelssohn with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly, and two Piano Concertos by Beethoven with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Ivor Bolton. He has also recorded the complete Beethoven’s Piano Sonata cycle for Decca.