Avri Levitan

The Berliner violist Avri Levitan was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1973, and commenced his musical journey at the age of five. His musical education began at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, under the tutelage of Prof. Chaim Taub, and then led him to the Conservatoire de Paris. During his formative years, Avri Levitan had the privilege of studying under the mentorship of Pinchas Zukerman, Pnina Salzman, Leon Fleisher, Michael Tree of the Guarneri Quartet, and Ivry Gitlis. These mentors played a pivotal role in shaping his musical identity.

He made his solo debut at the age of 21, performing alongside the Israeli Symphony Orchestra at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. Throughout his musical journey, Levitan has performed as a soloist on international stages such as the Berliner Philharmonie, the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Oji Hall in Tokyo, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, the National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw, the Seoul Arts Center, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, and the Stockholm Nybrokajen Hall, among others.

Avri Levitan has performed at renowned music festivals worldwide, including the Ravinia Music Festival in Chicago, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany, as well as the Båstad and Gotland Chamber Music Festivals in Sweden, the Seoul International Music Festival in Korea, and the Festival Pablo Casals in Prades, France.

In 2009, his collaboration with the Parnassus Piano Trio on a recording featuring Peter Vasks’s Piano Quartet was nominated for the BBC Music Magazine Awards.

The performance of Avri Levitan and violinist Roy Shiloah with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra playing Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante was made into a film by the artist Douglas Gordon called "K.364 – A Journey by Train" (2009). The film was successfully shown at international film festivals, galleries, and museums across major global cities such as London, Paris, Tel Aviv, Frankfurt, Toronto, and Venice. The performance featured in the film was nominated for the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards in 2012.

Beyond his role as a performer, Avri Levitan has dedicated himself to the education of the next generation of musicians. At the age of 25, he became a dedicated viola and chamber music teacher. In 2008, he assumed the position of Professor and Music Director of the string program at CIEC La Rioja in Spain, and from 2010 to 2018, he held the position of Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón (CSMA).

Since 2019, Levitan has been a faculty member at the Vienna University for Music and Performing Arts (mdw). Levitan regularly gives master classes as a guest at the Royal College of Music in London, the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Geidai - Tokyo University of the Arts, Seoul National University, CNSMD Paris, Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, among others. Furthermore, he actively participates as a jury member in numerous national and international music competitions, spanning Israel, Germany, Poland, Japan, and Austria.

Avri Levitan founded a pioneering concept aimed at revolutionizing music education for future generations of musicians. Musethica, an organization founded by Levitan in 2012 in Zaragoza, Spain, strives to integrate more concert practice into music education. Young musicians collaborate with their teachers to perform a wide range of concerts, with 85% of these performances taking place in social institutions. The objective of Musethica is to incorporate this model into music institutions, and the organization has since expanded its reach to 13 countries. It collaborates with prestigious institutions such as the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, the Escuela Superior de Música de Cataluña in Barcelona (ESMUC), the Conservatoire National Supérieur Musique et Danse de Paris, the Central Conservatory in Beijing, Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, and the Universität der Künste Berlin.

In recognition of its contribution to music education, UNESCO has granted patronage to Musethica activities in Spain and Germany.

Levitan is married to the Swedish violinist Maria Winiarski and has three children: Yona, Rosa, and Lucy.