Sharon Kam

Is a native of Israel, where she began her musical education under the guidance of Eli Eban and Chaim Taub. She graduated from the Juilliard School of Music, where she studied with Charles Neidich. At the age of 16, she made her orchestral debut with the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. Later she was asked to take part in the historic joint concert of the Berlin and Israel Philharmonics,
a performance videotaped by Sony Classics and released in 1992.
In 1992 she won First Prize at the ard International Competition in Munich, leading to performances with many renowned orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig (under Kurt Masur), the Toronto Symphony and Israel Philhar-monic (with Zubin Mehta), the Hamburg Philharmonic, Munich and Frankfurt Radio Orchestras and the Tokyo Philharmonic.
In recitals, she has appeared in New York, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Munich, Vancouver, Jerusalem,
St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Tel-Aviv. As a lover of chamber music, she has collaborated with such esteemed artists and ensembles as Isaac Stern, Yefim Bronfman, Kim Kashkashian, Tabea Zimmer-mann, Christian Tetzlaff, Barbara Bonney, the Guarneri Quartet and the Tokyo String Quartet.
Since 1995, Sharon Kam has been recording the major clarinet repertoire as an exclusive artist for Teldec Classics. Her recordings include the Weber concertos with Kurt Masur and the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, for which she received the Echo Prize as OInstrumentalist of the Year1 in 1998. As a result of a long-term relationship with composer Krzysztof Penderecki, a further recording of his works for clarinet was released in 1999. Her latest cd ­ OI Got Rhythm­American Classics1 ­ was released in 2002.

warsaw philharmonic ­ national orchestra of poland
The history of the Warsaw Philharmonic goes back to
5 November 1901 when the orchestra gave its inaugural concert in the newly-commissioned hall in Moniuszko street. On that occasion the Warsaw Philharmonic was conducted by Emil M1ynarski and featured Ignacy Jan Paderewski as soloist. The programme included works by Chopin, Moniuszko, Paderewski, Noskowski, Stojowski and šeleYski.
Within a relatively short time, the Warsaw Philharmonic became the most important institution of promoting musical culture in Poland. It also played an active role in the European music circuit. Its reputation was enhanced by guest performances of the world1s most renowned musicians of the early 20th century and the inter-war
period, including the pianists Sergey Rachmaninov, Claudio Arrau, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Kempf and Artur Rubinstein, the violinists Bronis1aw Huberman and Pablo Sarasate, and the conductors Otto Klemperer and Artur RodziYski. The Warsaw Philharmonic also played host to such famous composers as Karol Szymanowski, Arthur Honegger, Sergey Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel, Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky and even Edward Grieg.
Until World War Two, the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall served as the venue for three Chopin International Piano Competitions (1927, 1932, 1937), the 1st Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition (1935) and the 1st Festival of Polish Art.
Soon after the outbreak of the Second World War, the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall was bombed and towards the end of the hostilities it was reduced to rubble. From among 71 orchestra members as many as 39 lost their lives.
Among the conductors who led the Warsaw Philharmonic in the initial post-war years were Olgierd StraszyYski and Andrzej Panufnik. In January 1950 the post of Director and Principal Conductor was taken by Witold Rowicki, who, in highly difficult conditions (the orchestra did not have its own home), reorganised the ensemble and played
a key role in raising its artistic standard.
On 21 February 1955 the orchestra gave its first concert in the new venue, which housed the main Concert Hall seating 1000 and the Chamber Hall with an auditorium for 433 people.
In 1955­58 the Warsaw Philharmonic ­ the National Orchestra of Poland was directed by Bohdan Wodiczko, an outstanding musician and promoter of contemporary music. His assistants included Arnold Rezler and Stanis1aw Skrowaczewski. The late 1950s was a very propitious period in the history of the orchestra. It was considerably expanded. Numerous 20th-century compositions were premiered to great acclaim.
After Wodiczko, Witold Rowicki resumed work with the orchestra, and remained its Artistic Director until the end of the 1976/77 season. The permanent conductors at the time included Stanis1aw Wis1ocki and Andrzej Markowski (the former served also as Deputy Artistic Director in 1972­74). In July 1977 the post of the Managing and Artistic Director was taken over by Kazimierz Kord. He expanded the orchestra1s repertoire by introducing an impressive selection of oratorios, cantatas and the operas in concert performance. In 1979­90 Tadeusz Struga1a held the post of Principal Conductor.
On 1 January 2002, the post of Managing and Artistic Director was assumed by Antoni Wit.
The Warsaw Philharmonic has made over 100 tours in the five continents. It has participated in prestigious international festivals, including those in Athens, Bergen, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brussels, Florence, Lucerne, Montreux, Moscow, Prague and Vienna. It regularly takes part in the Chopin International Piano Competitions and the OWarsaw Autumn1 Contemporary Music Festivals. It has recorded for Polish Radio and TV and various Polish and foreign labels. Its recordings have won many awards, the latest of which is the OFryderyk 20021 Award for the best interpretations of Polish music (works by Lutos1awski, Meyer and Penderecki).
The Warsaw Philharmonic has performed with Poland1s own leading conductors and the finest from abroad including Hermann Abendroth, Gary Bertini, Herbert Blomstedt, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Charles Dutoit, Philippe Entremont, Aram Khachaturian, Yehudi Menuhin, Kurt Masur, Helmut Rilling, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, and Igor Stravinsky. The long list of the world1s most renowned soloists who performed with the orchestra includes Martha Argerich, Kathleen Battle, Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli, Teresa Berganza, Nigel Kennedy, Midori, Anne-Sophie Mutter, David Oistrakh, Svyatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich, Isaac Stern, Henryk Szeryng, and Pinchas Zuckerman.
At present the Warsaw Philharmonic ­ the National Orchestra of Poland numbers 112 musicians.