Saleem Abboud Ashkar

Saleem Abboud Ashkar was born in 1976 in Nazareth

Saleem Abboud Ashkar was born in 1976 and grew up in Nazareth. From age 10 he received scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

He studied piano at the Nazareth Conservatory and then in the music program of the Israel Arts and Science Academy in Jerusalem. He went on to the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied with Maria Curcio, and later to the Hanover University of Music and Drama, where he studied with Arie Vardi.

At age 22 he made his debut at Carnegie Hall in New York under Daniel Barenboim. He has performed with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, the London Symphony, the Vienna Symphony at the Salzburg Festival, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. He has worked with conductors including Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti, and played chamber music with Gil Shaham and Gidon Kremer's colleague Vadim Gluzman.

In 2000 he won the Young Talent of the Year award at the Ruhr International Piano Festival. He regularly teaches master classes around the world and co-founded the Orpheus association to promote music education among Arabs and Jews. He conducts the Galilee Orchestra.