Florian Donderer is first violin of Signum Quartet, one of the most adventurous and outstanding string quartets of today, as well as longstanding concertmaster of The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen. He is a versatile musician, highly valued as chamber musician, soloist, concertmaster and conductor, collaborating with distinguished musicians such as Paavo Järvi, Steven Isserlis, Lars Vogt, Viktoria Mullova, Elisabeth Leonskaja and his wife and brother in law, Tanja and Christian Tetzlaff.

Florian Donderer is frequent guest at major festivals such as Bergen Festspielen, Beethovenfest Bonn, Festwochen Berlin, Schwetzinger Festspiele and is core member at ›Spannungen‹, one of Germany’s most prominent music festivals, founded by Pianist Lars Vogt. Concerts with Signum Quartet have taken him to international podia from Berlin‘s Boulez-Saal and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg to London’s Wigmore Hall and Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

Florian Donderer is especially renowned as an artistic leader, directing orchestras from the concertmaster’s desk. Top Chamber Orchestras such as Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Kammerorchester Basel, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and Camerata Bern, invite him as director and soloist. Last year‘s recording ›Haydn and Bach Cello Concertos‹ with Steven Isserlis, Florian Donderer and The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen has received a Grammy Nomination. He made his debut as conductor with Ensemble Oriol and Christiane Oelze at Berlin Philharmonic Hall, followed by a CD recording with Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen and Tanja Tetzlaff. He has conducted among others the Kammerakademie Neuss, the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim and Festival Strings Lucerne. This year Florian Donderer has taken on the position of artistic director of the chamber music festival of the city of Rottweil, one of Germany’s longest standing festivals. With his wife, Tanja Tetzlaff he is curating a chamber music series at Sendesaal Bremen.

He plays a violin built by German Violinmaker Peter Greiner in 2003 and bows by Nico Plog from Antwerp.

The first mandolin player to be nominated for a Grammy Award, Avi Avital is one of the leading ambassadors of his instrument. Through his passion and his “explosive, charismatic” live performances (New York Times), he has become a driving force in the revival of mandolin repertoire.

Avi Avital’s performances are electrifying audiences worldwide; Wigmore Hall and The Royal Albert Hall in London, The Philharmonie in Paris and Berlin, the Tonhalle in Zurich, Carnegie Hall in New York and many more. He performs with big-name orchestras – from The Mahler Chamber Orchestra to the Israel Philharmonic – and is a regular guest performer at international festivals.

Avi Avital has already performed with leading artists from many genres including among others Andreas Scholl, Juan Diego Flórez and Dawn Upshaw. In his most recent collaboration with the oud and bass player Omer Avital, he successfully combines the finesse of chamber music with the raw energy of jazz and world music.

Avi Avital is also the first mandolin soloist under contract to Deutsche Grammophon. His newest album “Vivaldi”- released in 2015 – was awarded the ECHO Klassik prize. Avital won his first ECHO in 2008 with the David Orlowsky Trio.

Avi Avital was born in Be’er Sheva in Israel. He began to play the mandolin at 8 years old and was soon playing in the emerging Mandolin Youth Orchestra, founded by his teacher and musical director Simcha Nathanson. He studied at the Jerusalem Music Academy and at the Conservatorio Cesare Pollini in Padua, where, together with Ugo Orlandi, he developed the core repertoire for the mandolin. In 2007 he was the first mandolin player to with the Aviv Competition.

Avi Avital’s mandolin was made by the Israeli violin maker Arik Kerman.