Saleem Abboud Ashkar

Pianist Saleem Ashkar is an alumnus of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. He has appeared with Israel's major symphonic ensembles and given recitals in Berlin, Frankfurt, Florence, Brussels, Oslo, and Chicago, and has appeared at festivals. Ashkar was signed to Decca and released his debut album, Beethoven's first and fourth piano concertos, in 2013. In the mid-2010s, Ashkar's recitals increasingly focused on Beethoven's piano sonatas, a project that coalesced into a plan to record a complete new cycle of Beethoven sonatas for Decca, with the first release appearing in 2017. Ashkar divides his time between Berlin and Israel, where he formed and serves as artistic director of the Galilee Chamber Orchestra. ~ James Manheim