Amihai Grosz

Amihai Grosz has pursued a very unusual career path: he was first a quartet player (a founding member of the Jerusalem Quartet), then went on to become principal violist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (a position he holds today), and a renowned soloist.

Initially, Amihai Grosz learned violin, before switching to the viola at age 11. In Jerusalem, he was taught by David Chen, then later by Tabea Zimmermann in Frankfurt and Berlin as well as in Tel Aviv by Haim Taub, who had a formative influence on him.

As a soloist Grosz has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Tugan Sokhiev, Daniel Barenboim, Ludovic Morlot, Simon Rattle, Gerard Korsten and Rune Bergman among others. He performs internationally with orchestras such as the Korean National Symphony Orchestra, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

In the world of chamber music, Amihai Grosz performs with artists such as Yefim Bronfman, Mitsuko Uchida, Éric Le Sage, Janine Jansen, Julian Steckel, Daishin Kashimoto and David Geringas. Internationally, he can be heard regularly at the most prestigious concert halls such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Zurich Tonhalle, the Wigmore Hall in London and the Philharmonie in Luxembourg, as well as at leading festivals including the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Evian, Verbier and Delft Festivals, the BBC Proms and the Utrecht International Chamber Music Festival.

Amihai Grosz and the pianist Sunwook Kim enjoy a strong chamber music collaboration. In September 2020 their joint album for viola and piano with works by Schubert, Pártos and Shostakovich was released by Alpha Classics. In the 2021/22 season Amihai Grosz has been appointed as artistic director of the Utrecht International Chamber Music Festival.

Amihai Grosz plays a Gaspar-da-Salò viola from the year 1570, which is a lifelong loan made available to him from a private collection.