Classical conductors have it good. Not only do they get to impose their – highly learned, it must be said – will on a bunch of instrumentalists, possibly up to 100 or so a time, but they also get a workout in the process, wielding their baton and arms every which way. If Avner Biron is anything to go by, the proof of the health-inducing benefits of the profession is right there to be seen and heard.
Forty years after he founded the Israel Camerata, Biron is very much still in the thick of things, guiding his music-playing wards through repertoires of practically any ilk going, and keeping the envelope well and truly pushed, all in the interests of culture consumers looking for quality renditions while keeping their sonic and sensorial horizons as broad as possible.
As the Israel Camerata Jerusalem – as it is now called – prepares for its 40th season of earnest instrumental endeavor, the now 75-year-old Biron can allow himself the luxury of a little look back over his brainchild’s time line and ponder the road ahead.
The milestone season kicks off with a tripartite offering, on October 12 through 14. The program for the curtain-raiser features works by Mozart, Bach, and Britten, in what promises to be a varied and highly entertaining and fundamentally alluring runout, with concerts at the YMCA in Jerusalem (8 p.m.), Tel Aviv Museum of Art (1 p.m.) and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot (8 p.m.).
The latter is an apt geographic choice, as the ensemble started life, back in 1983, in the world-renowned research establishment’s hometown of Rehovot. In a play on one of the opening phrases of Monty Python’s priceless sketch, “The Four Yorkshiremen,” one might surmise that the 35-year-old Biron would not have believed the ensemble would still be a robust going concern a full four decades later.
“I never thought about 40 years ahead,” he chuckles. “It started out as a modest undertaking. We just asked students from the [Jerusalem] Academy [of Music and Dance] to come and play.”
Biron may not have initially harbored too much in the way of long-term intent, but things took a rapid turn for the far more earnest and professional. “It grew really quickly,” says the septuagenarian conductor-flutist. “It became sort of semiprofessional. Within a year or two, we already had subscribers.”
The founder says he was both surprised and gratified, although noting he had some street cred and artistic collateral for the venture. “My primary interest was professional. I felt I had something to give. I had performed with quite a few orchestras beforehand [as a flutist]. There were quite a few times when a conductor came along and I thought I would have tried something else, or I would have interpreted it in a different way.”
It was then that Biron began to think about taking the reins into his young hands and striking out on his own. “I began to get itchy fingers,” he recalls. “So I started this group up, and it succeeded far beyond any expectations,” he adds with a chuckle.
Indeed it has. Over the past 40 years the Camerata has performed a diverse roll call of works, here and abroad, and joined forces with a slew of glittering stars of the classical music world. Irish flutist James Galway and Latvian-born cellist Mischa Maisky have mixed it with Biron et al., and next month A-lister German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter will come to Israel for her first visit here in 25 years, to share the stage with the Camerata in a rendition of Bach’s Violin Concerto No. 1.
“The soloists we have appearing with us are really out of the top drawer,” Biron notes with more than a hint of justified pride. The ensemble’s guest artist roster, he feels, is an indication of the international standing the orchestra has achieved over the years. “These are artists you normally have to be in one of the major cities in America to hear, and pay 10 times more for the tickets. We have Anne-Sophie Mutter, who is a superstar of the violin. And there is [Russian-born British violinist] Viktoria Mullova.” Landing those two, and others, such as lauded now octogenarian Jewish Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich, adds several feathers to Biron’s and the Camerata’s hat. “These names speak for themselves. They don’t play with just any orchestra. I think it is also a certificate of honor for the orchestra.”
Truly, that’s not bad at all for a venture that started out with a bunch of music students looking to get some experience of playing in an ensemble setting and, if possible, on stage before a paying audience.
“The soloists we have appearing with us are really out of the top drawer.”
Avner Biron
“The orchestra was the means for expressing ideas, and the members felt it was important to convey that on stages. They were a wonderful group of people,” Biron enthuses. “There was no money in it, for any of us, to begin with. We did it for the love of it. We still have that feeling. We were just a little orchestra from Rehovot. We didn’t have any expectations.”
The Founder-Conductor
THE FOUNDER-CONDUCTOR says the orchestra has been through plenty of changes, in terms of personnel and programming, over the years. That includes upping stakes from Rehovot and relocating to Jerusalem in 1995, when the mayor of the former town felt the municipal budget was running a little low to continue supporting the Camerata’s work. “We were warmly embraced by Jerusalem. Ehud Olmert was the mayor at the time. We found a welcoming home in Jerusalem.
“We got some wonderful musicians from the Russian aliyah [of the early 1990s]. That really helped to push the musicianship up. They were dedicated and diligent,” says Biron. New kids on the block can instill fresh energy into a venture, but that can also rock the social fiber boat a bit. Biron says that wasn’t a problem. “We still feel like one big family.”
Having everyone on board the same mindset can help provide a solid foundation for introducing new ideas, and Biron takes great pride in supporting the efforts of local composers by commissioning works by Israelis – around 70 to date.
The orchestra also recently unearthed a previously unknown work by Paul Ben Haim, in June this year, called Sonata for String Orchestra with Strummed Instruments. “The work was written in the 1960s, but it had never been performed before. It is a special piece which was composed for two string orchestras, for all the classical plucked instruments – two mandolins, a guitar, harpsichord, harp, and two string ensembles.” Germany-based Israeli mandolin player Avi Avital starred in that rendition. “Ben Haim wrote it for [Czech-born Israeli musician] Frank Pelleg, who was a friend of his. Pelleg was the first Israeli harpsichordist.”
The Camerata has also produced its fair share of recordings over the years, and also devotes time and energy to nurturing classical music consumers and, possibly, performers of the future.
“We do a lot of educational work up and down the country,” Biron notes. “We take that very seriously.”
And there’s plenty in store for us, across the 2023-24 season, where next week’s concert program is coming from.
For tickets and more information: https://www.jcamerata.com