Musicלהב שני

Lahav Shani

Lahav Shani is an Israeli conductor and pianist who is music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

born 1989Music director, Israel Philharmonic OrchestraChief conductor, Rotterdam PhilharmonicChief conductor, Munich Philharmonic

Born: 7 January 1989, Tel Aviv
Occupation: conductor, classical pianist, musician, pianist
Education: Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, Hanns Eisler Music School Berlin

Lahav Shani was born in 1989 in Tel Aviv

Shani was born in Tel Aviv in 1989. His father, Michael Shani, is a choral conductor.

He studied piano with Hannah Shalgi and later with Arie Vardi at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv. He also learned double bass with Teddy Kling. In Berlin he studied conducting with Christian Ehwald at the Hanns Eisler school of music, and Daniel Barenboim has been a conducting mentor.

He served in the IDF as a musician.

Shani first played as a guest pianist with the Israel Philharmonic in 2007, and in 2010 Zubin Mehta took him on tour as pianist and assistant conductor. He won first prize at the 2013 Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition. He became chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic from 2018 and music director of the Israel Philharmonic from 2020.

In 2023 the Munich Philharmonic named him its next chief conductor. In 2025 a festival in Ghent cancelled his appearance with that orchestra, a decision that German and Belgian officials condemned. He lives in Berlin with his wife, clarinetist Miri Saadon.