Maestro with a mandolin

AVI Avital still remembers with fondness the day he held a mandolin for the first time. Just eight years old and living with his family in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva, the primary school student was instantly captivated by the string instrument.

Yet the young Avital could never have imagined that he was about to embark on a life-long musical journey that would one day see him dubbed the “Mandolin Superstar”.

“There was a large mandolin youth orchestra in Beersheva when I was growing up,” says Avital. “I watched a concert with 40 kids playing the mandolin together one day and it became something I really wanted to join.

“One of the members of the orchestra – my neighbour – was a good friend of mine and he gave me his old mandolin when he got a new one.”

For Avital, it was, quite simply, a case of love at first sound.

“The mandolin is a very user-friendly instrument,” he muses. “It has this ‘immediate’ quality that other instruments such as the violin don’t have. I just loved the sound and shape of it. It’s very easy to hold and make the first sounds, and that’s what captured me.”

Now 35 and based in Berlin, Avital is the world’s first mandolin player to receive a classical Grammy nomination. Internationally recognised as one of the most exciting and innovative musicians of his generation, he has performed to packed houses around the globe – everywhere from New York’s Carnegie Hall to the Berlin Philharmonic Centre and London’s Wigmore Hall, as well as with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He’s also a veritable YouTube sensation.

“I think it’s great,” he says of his social media fan base. “It’s a wonderful way to connect with audiences and to see what they like and to share their commentaries. Unlike any time before, the screen between the performer and the artist is not what it used to be -– there’s a much stronger connection now.”

To Avital, however, reimagining the world of the mandolin and ­continuing along his own, unique musical path is what inspires him most.

“I have always enjoyed playing an instrument that is not a conventional or usual musical instrument. As an artist, it gives me huge creative freedom. There’s a great satisfaction in that,” he reflects.

After graduating from the Jerusalem Music Academy, then the Conservatorio Cesare Pollini in Padua, Italy, Avital moved to Berlin five years ago. It’s a city that has become a haven for artists and musicians from around the world.

“Berlin is now a great centre for classical music and, for art in general, it’s a place where innovation and creativity has found a really fresh ground,” Avital confirms.

“It amazes me just how much creative energy Berlin has. It’s surprising, of course, because of its history.”

Indeed, Berlin’s darkest history is something Avital cannot, and certainly does not attempt to escape.

“It’s very present, and choosing to live here in Berlin wasn’t like an Englishman choosing to live in France,” he concedes. “There is a content that comes with it that is connected to my culture and my people – to my cultural DNA. It is definitely present.

“At the same time, I remember a couple of years ago doing a concert with an Israeli ensemble at the Wannsee villa in Berlin, where the document of the Final Solution was signed. We played there to commemorate International Holocaust Memorial Day and it was a very emotional concert for me.

“I had a feeling that little by little, by playing Israeli music, something in the very disturbing energy of the place was slowly, slowly healing through that power of music.”

These days, Avital is happily married to wife Roni, an academic, and a doting dad to their 10-month-old son, Hillel. It’s no surprise to learn that music already fills little Hillel’s world.

“He is often in the studio and he likes to listen to me practising – some things more, some things less,” laughs Avital. “He has very specific taste, let’s just say that!”

Has fatherhood impacted on Avital’s musical style?

“I think so,” he replies, adding, “and on different levels. It’s a whole new range of emotions that I wasn’t familiar with before which have opened. Like all other experiences in life, it quickly becomes another colour in your palette when you’re playing music.”

Avital’s ties to his homeland, where his parents and sisters still live, also remain strong.

“I have collaborated with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra several times and I go back to Israel quite often for concerts, but I tour a lot around the world with different orchestras,” he explains.

Avital, whose new album Between Worlds was released on April 11, arrives in Australia on the weekend for a concert tour with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, collaborating with the orchestra’s artistic director and conductor, Paul Dyer AO.

“The orchestra’s reputation is well known and I was very excited to receive the invitation,” Avital says.

The concert program features music by Vivaldi, Bach and Pachelbel.

Avi Avital performs with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra at City Recital Hall Angel Place, Sydney from May 7-16 and at the Melbourne Recital Centre on May 17-18. Bookings: www.brandenburg.com.au.

REPORT by Jackie Brygel

PHOTO of Israeli mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital. Photo: Guy Hecht