Udi Bar-David, Cello

UDI BAR-DAVID, CELLO

Udi Bar-David began his cello studies at the age of seven with Uzi Wiesel in Tel-Aviv, through funding of the American Israel Cultural foundation. He continued his studies at The Juilliard School with Leonard Rose, and later studied conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music with Max Rudolph.

Mr. Bar-David is an acclaimed soloist in Israel having performed with Israel's leading orchestras, recorded at the Jerusalem Music center founded by Pablo Casals, and toured the country as a member of the Israeli Army Quartet. In 1976, he won the International Villa Lobos Competition in Brazil. He has been Principal Cellist in the International Youth Orchestra, at Juilliard, in the National Orchestra of New York, and with the American Ballet Theatre. In addition, he has served on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival. Winner of the 1984WFLN Young Instrumentalist Competition, he has appeared as soloist with the Philly Pops under Peter Nero.

Mr. Bar-David was a member of the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, and became a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1987. He has been affiliated with AstralArtistic Services and the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity. He was featured in solo recitals of Spain and California, in a string quartet appearance on the TODAY show, and radio broadcasts with Network For New Music. Mr. Bar-David is a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra Board of Directors, and was the Artistic Coordinator for the Hear O Israel concert at the Core States Center. He has recently developed the Arab Jewish Musical Dialogue which brings artists of both cultures together on the same stage. He is also the founder of "Intercultural Journeys", a non-profit organization based in Philadelphia which is committed to producing performances, master classes, lectures, and other interactions that provide opportunities for musical dialogue and understanding among a variety of cultural traditions.

Mr. Bar-David conducted Intercultural Journeys’ Arab Jewish presentations with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2007 and 2008. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with Christoph Eschenbach, Leon Fleisher, Jaime Lardo and Rudolph Buchbinder.

He has recently released the first of its kind Native American Middle Eastern recording collaboration, VOYAGERS, with R. Carlos Nakai.

Mr. Bar-David has collaborated on behalf of Intercultural Journeys with WHYY, WRTI, established an Intercultural Journeys’ series in Arizona, and initiated plans for cross-cultural events in the United States, China, Europe and the Middle East.

Hanna Khoury, VIOLIN

Violin virtuoso Hanna Khoury is trained in both Western classical and Arabic classical music styles. As the music director of the Arabesque Music Ensemble, Khoury has led nationwide tours performing traditional Arabic music in major venues and universities.

Khoury recently has toured with Lebanese superstar Fairuz and played lead violin with Iraqi singer Kazem Al-Saher, and grammy winner Youssu NDour. In addition, Hanna has recorded violin solo and strings for the grammy nominated song Beautiful Liar featuring Shakira and Beyonce. He has also recorded strings for Shakira's grammy performance Hips Don't Lie. Khoury can also be heard on the song Love and Compassion featuring Kazem Al-Saher and Paula Cole. Khoury has also recorded several sound tracks for award winning films and documentaries including Encounter Point, Amreeka and Mosque in Morgan Town.

Khoury performs frequently with cello player Ohad Bar David and Intercultural Journey. Recent performances included concerts with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. As a former principal violinist of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under the direction of Daniel Barenboim, Khoury has performed numerous tours with world-class artists and musicians, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma. He has also collaborated with members of the Staatskapelle Berlin in multiple concerts in Malta and Israel. He currently performs with the Harrsiburg Symphony and Lancaster Symphony.

Khoury is the recipient of the America Israel Scholarship and Qattan Foundation Award. He graduated Magna Cum-Laude with departmental honors from UCLA with a Bachelors in Economics and another in music performance, and obtained his Masters degree in music from Temple University.