Benjamin Ashkenazy

Benjamin Ashkenazy was born in Sofia (Bulgaria).

At the age of eight, he immigrated with his family to Israel, where he received his lessons in piano and composition.

By the age of 15, he had already written his first musicals and pieces for piano, which were performed numerous times in Israel.

After obtaining his Master degree in composition (with professor J. Sadai) and conducting at the Tel Aviv University and the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem, Benjamin Ashkenazy went to Europe to further his education in conducting and composition.

First at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and later on with Franco Ferrara at Siena (Italy), Roberto Benzi in France, Iliya Musin in London, culminating with Sergio Celibidache in Italy.

Benjamin Ashkenazy had contact with The Maestro Leonard Bernstein and assisted at his rehearsals in many countries.

In 1978 he studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague (Holland) with Louis Stotijn. There he received the “Prize for Composition” after studying with the famous Dutch composer Peter Schat.

He also won the first prize for conductors at the International Competition of Conductors in Bordeaux.

Mr Ashkenazy has composed a large number of orchestral, chamber and solo works as well as film music. The great majority of his works are published by DONEMUS Amsterdam.

Benjamin Ashkenazy is an eminent music teacher and he extremely enjoys teaching. A passion which had driven him to write a book on Solfeggio and Harmony which was published in the Hague.

From 1983 until 1993, he was the head of the theory department at the Musical Institute ”Koorenhuis” in The Hague.

Presently he teaches composition, conducting, and theory.

B. Ashkenazy was the musical advisor and permanent guest conductor of the Vidin Philharmonic Orchestra (Bulgaria) and permanent guest conductor of The Transilvania State Philharmonic Orchestra Cluj-Napocca (Romania).

In 1995 he led the International Master Class for Young Conductors which took place in Vidin, Bulgaria.

He has been invited as a guest conductor to orchestras in Holland, Poland, Romania, Israel, and Bulgaria.

He was also invited to take part among the juries of international music competitions in Italy, Romania, and Austria (Vienna).

In 1993  Benjamin Ashkenazy was the Artistic Director of the International Classical Music Festival in Warsaw (Poland) ..

Since 1990 he is working on his project " The Jewish Soul " to orchestrate traditional ladino and yiddish folksongs for symphony orchestra with soloists.

Benjamin Ashkenazy is still working, together with his wife Maia Petrova on this project to perform it all over the world.

Furthermore Mr Ashkenazy teaches composition and piano.

He currently lives in The Hague with his wife and children.