Gal Nyska, Principal Cellist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra since 2016, has appeared on many stages across the world as an orchestral musician, chamber musician and soloist. He made his solo debut with the Juilliard orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall in New York under the baton of Dennis Russel Davies and has since appeared with numerous orchestras in the USA and Europe. As a chamber musician, he won several important chamber music competitions, among them the Coleman and Fischoff competitions, and with his piano trio he was awarded a prize by Harvard University’s musical association. He also won the cello prize and audience prize at the America-Israel Cultural Foundation’s Aviv Competitions. Gal Nyska began his formal cello studies with Ludmila Stark in Ness Ziona, continued them in North Carolina with Leonid Zilper and completed them at the Juilliard School in New york with Joel Krosnick, later serving as Mr. Krosnick’s teaching assistant. He took part in master classes with renowned cellists Yo-Yo Ma, Steven Isserlis, Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirshbaum, Bernard Greenhouse, David Geringas, Frans Helmerson and Janos Starker. Following a two-year tenure as Associate Principal Cellist of the Neubrandenburg Philharmonie in Germany, he joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 2015. This is his first appearance as soloist with the IPO.

Kirill Mihanovsky, cellist, was born in 1973 into a family of musicians in St. Petersburg, where he studied at the music school of the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory with Prof. E. Fishman and Prof.A Nikitin. With his family, he moved to Israel in 1990. He is a graduate of the Tel Aviv University Academy of Music where he received his Bachelor’s degree with distinction, having studied with Prof. U. Wiesel. As a student of Prof. M. Khomitzer, he earned his Artists Diploma and Master’s degree from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance together with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Further studies were with Prof. D. Fershtman at the Hague Royal Conservatory (Holland). Mr. Mihanovsky has participated in many international master classes with prominent cellists including B.Greenhouse, F. Muller, A. Parisot, M. Strauss, T. Kirschbaum, W. Boetcher as well as in international festivals including the Schleswieg-Holstein Music Festival, the Israel Festival, the Kefar Blum Festival and the Nimes Festival in France.

He has recorded for Swedish, Russian, Italian, Polish, French, Dutch and Israeli television and radio and has recorded CDs of chamber music. Kirill Mihanovsky first appeared as a soloist at the age of fourteen with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Maestro Evgeny Mravinsky and subsequently has played concertos with symphony and chamber orchestras in Israel and abroad and given solo recitals for which he has been praised in the press.

He has also appeared with numerous chamber ensembles. He has been a recipient of the prestigious American-Israel Cultural Foundation’s scholarship and a winner of the National Competition in Netanya, Israel. He has also taken part in many international competitions and was a finalist in the International Vercelli Competition in Italy and Laureate of the International A.Tansman Competition in Poland.

Since 2002, Mr. Mihanovsky has been a member of the IPO, conducted by Maestro Zubin Mehta.

I was born in Tashkent, the capitol city of Uzbekistan, in 1963.  I started playing cello and piano at the age of 6 in a school for gifted children, the Uspensky School.  My teacher was the principal cellist of the opera, Vladimir Pover, a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory.  At the end of high school, I was accepted to the Genessins Musical Academy in Mosow.

For 5 years, my professor was Victor Simon, a student of Simeon Kozolupov, the founder of the modern Russian cello school.  My professor, who until today is principal cello of the Moscow Radio Orchestra, holds the decoration of People’s Artist of Russia.

At the age of 22 I moved to Moldavia where I became principal cello of the Moldavian Opera Theater and principal of the Moldavian Radio Chamber Orchestra.

In 1990, I brought my family to Israel and joined first the Rishon LeZion Orchestra and later the Camerata Ensemble of Rehovot under Avner Biron.  I was accepted into the IPO in 1992.

I am always busy playing chamber music and was fortunate to have excellent instructors in Moscow, Alexander Reez and Valeri Somolotov.  I was a founding member of the Tel Aviv Chamber Music Ensemble and today a member of the Israel Philharmonic String Quartet with my colleagues Ilya Konovalov, Roman Spitzer and Schmuel Glaser.  On the IPO chamber music series, I’ve appeared with Maxim Vengerov, Gil Shacham, Yefim Bronfman, Emanuel Axe and Sayaka Soji.

Alexandra, my wife, is an excellent pianist, my accompaniest and my favorite chamber music partner. We have one son in the air force, and my daughter is a violinist.