Yehuda Gilad (musician) - Performing, Conducting and Teaching

Performing, Conducting and Teaching

Yehuda Gilad integrates performing, conducting and teaching into every aspect of his music. As a conductor, performer and professor, he integrates these disciplines into "total musicianship". At the Colburn Conservatory and USC Thornton School of Music, Mr. Gilad has developed one of the most sought after clarinet studios in the world. The accomplishments of Mr. Gilad's teachings can be best noted through the success of his students, many of which are competition winning performers and principal players in ranking orchestras throughout the world. His former students include members of the New York, Stockholm, Hong Kong, and Seoul Philharmonics, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Royal Concertgebouw and the Minnesota Orchestras, among many others. His students have also been prize winners in the Carl Nielsen competition, New York Philharmonic Young Artists Competition, Pasadena Instrumental Competition, the Dos Hermanas Competition, Munich, and other prestigious competitions. In addition to his positions as professor of music at the Colburn School and USC, Mr.Gilad is regularly invited to present masterclasses and performances at music conservatories and festivals worldwide. He has been invited to such institutions as Kings College, Sweden, the Winter Festival in Spain, the Curtis Institute, the Mannes College, Juilliard, Sibelius, Oslo Academy, Beijing Conservatory, the Manhattan School of Music, among many others.

An accomplished clarinetist, Mr. Gilad has performed with the Marlboro Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, San Francisco Chamber Music Festival, and Crussell Festival. He has collaborated as a performer and conductor with many of today's most prominent artists including Gil Shaham, Sarah Chang, Joseph Kalichstein, Vladimir Feltsman, Joshua Bell, Jimmy Linn and many others.

Mr. Gilad has had an instrumental role in the founding and forming of several notable chamber ensembles and festivals. From 1982-1993, he directed the Malibu Strawberry Creek Music Festival, an acclaimed annual event that provided Los Angeles with "a summer festival in which inspired, enthusiastic performance and intelligent varied programming are the norm" (Los Angeles Times). Mr. Gilad also founded the Yoav Chamber Ensemble which performed at the Merkin and Carnegie Recital Halls, and the Colburn Woodwind Chamber Players, which toured Germany, China and major cities throughout the U.S.

Mr. Gilad's success as a conductor equals that of his renown as a performer and teacher. Hailed as one of today's most dynamic and charismatic conductors, Mr. Gilad serves as Conductor and Music director of the Colonial Symphony of New Jersey and the Colburn Orchestra. Since his appointment to the Colonial Symphony in 1988, Mr. Gilad has received critical acclaim from The New York Times for his "strong imaginative programming" and championing of American and contemporary music. As noted in an article in The StarLedger, Gilad has "transformed the Colonial Symphony into one of New Jersey's artistic trendsetters." Under his leadership, the orchestra became the only one in the area to receive an NEA grant for seven consecutive years. In 1995 and 1996, the orchestra received the Distinguished Arts Organization Award from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for it artistry and programming merits. As a staunch advocate of arts education, Mr. Gilad has elevated the Colonial Symphony into not only a premiere regional orchestra, but also a teaching orchestra, taking it "on the road" to various urban and suburban schools, integrating the orchestra into the schools' curriculum. Mr. Gilad is currently the Music Director of the Colburn Orchestra. He is a frequent guest conductor on four continents. He has also conducted the Malibu Strawberry Creek Music Festival, the Idyllwild Arts Academy, the Santa Monica Symphony, the Bonn Sinfonietta (Germany), and the Jerusalem Music Center (Israel).

Mr. Gilad's guest conducting appearances have brought him praise in the United States and throughout Europe. In 1987 he became the first Israeli-born conductor to perform in China, and he has since conducted numerous times in Beijing and Shanghai. In addition to his guest conducting engagements, Mr. Gilad served as Music Director of the colonial symphony,New Jersey,the Herbert Zipper Orchestra of Los Angeles and the 20th Century Unlimited concert series in Santa Fe, New Mexico and the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra.