Sivan Magen appointed to professorship for harp
The Israeli harpist Sivan Magen will be appointed professor of harp at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin at the beginning of the summer semester 2023. The appointment of this top-class artist is a great gain for the future education of harpists at the Eisler. His "brilliant sound and remarkable technical acumen shatter any stereotype of his instrument", the New York Times wrote about him. With this professorship, Sivan Magen succeeds Prof. Maria Graf, who has taught at the Eisler since 1997.
Born in Jerusalem in 1980, Sivan Magen is a sought-after lecturer at international master classes and jury member in important harp competitions worldwide. In 2017 he taught as a visiting professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieure in Paris, and since the beginning of the 2017/18 season he has been principal harpist of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Helsinki. Sivan Magen studied at the Paris Conservatoire and the Juilliard School in New York.
In 2006, he won the prestigious International Harp Contest in Israel, was the winner of the Pro Musicis International Award and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award 2012. He not only explores the standard repertoire for harp, but also works with contemporary composers to expand the repertoire and has published his own new arrangements for harp of solo and chamber music works from the Baroque to the 20th century. The harpist gives master classes at institutions such as the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute, the Peabody Institute, the New England Conservatory, the Paris Conservatory, London's Royal Academy, the Guildhall School and Trinity College.
As a soloist, Sivan Magen has performed in the USA, South America, Europe and Israel. An avid chamber musician, he has performed at the Marlboro, Kuhmo, Giverny and Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festivals and collaborated with artists such as Nobuko Imai, Shmuel Ashkenazi, Gary Hoffman, Emmanuel Pahud, Susanna Phillips and members of the Guarneri and Juilliard Quartets. He is a founding member of the Israeli Chamber Project and Trio Tre Voci (with flutist Marina Piccinini and violist Kim Kashkashian). His two solo albums for Linn Records and his recordings with ICP (for Azica) and with Tre Voci (ECM) have been critically acclaimed, and his recording with tenor Nicholas Phan (Avie) was listed as "Best of 2012" in the New York Times.