Born in Kibbutz Ein-Dor in 1961, Uzi Shalev studied the bassoon with Walter Meroz, Zeev Dorman and Mordechai Rechtman.
Having completed his military service in the IDF as an officer, he continued his studies at the Juilliard School in New York.
Since 1987, he has been Assistant Principal Bassoonist of the Israel Philharmonic.
Uzi Shalev is a versatile musician who performs regularly with various chamber ensembles and as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic and other orchestras. He has premiered several Israeli works, some of which were dedicated to him, among them Aharon Harlap’s Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra, which he premiered with the Israel Philharmonic in January 2005. For this performance he was awarded the Oedoen Partos Prize for the Performance of Israeli Music.
Mr. Shalev has made numerous recordings for radio and CDs. In 1993, his CD of works by Telemann won the Annual Award for excellence by the Music Retailers’ Association in England. In 1998 he released a CD of J.C. Bach’s Bassoon Concerto with the Cappella Istropolitana. He has also recorded all of Yehezkel Braun’s works for bassoon.