Lahav Shani announced as Chief Conductor of the Munich Philharmonic
Eisler alumnus Lahav Shani was announced as the next Chief Conductor of the Munich Philharmonic, a position he will take up for an initial term of five years from the 2026|27 season. Lahav Shani, born in Tel Aviv in 1989, studied orchestral conducting with Prof. Christian Ehwald and Prof. Hans-Dieter Baum and piano with Prof. Fabio Bidini from 2009 to 2014.
In 2013, he received the first prize of the renowned Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Lahav Shani became principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in 2018. In September 2020, he became Chief Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic, succeeding Zubin Mehta who had held the position for 50 years. As a conductor and pianist, like his mentor Daniel Barenboim, he has also conducted major orchestras around the world from the piano. Shani made his debut with the Munich Philharmonic in September 2022.