Yoav Talmi Biography

Well known and celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Yoav Talmi is celebrating this season his 10th season as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Quebec Symphony and 40 years of conducting career. Talmi serves also as Principal Guest Conductor of the Israel Chamber Orchestra in Tel Aviv. In March 2008, Maestro Talmi conducted an historical performance of Gustav Mahler 8th Symphony (“Symphony of a Thousand”) celebrating the 400 anniversary of Québec City. Thousand performers were gathered under Talmi’s baton - 4 orchestras, 15 choirs and 8 soloist - for a spectacle that attracted 12,000 spectators at the coliseum of Québec.

Maestro Talmi’s long and impressive guest conducting career spans several continents. His European engagements include all the major London orchestras, the Berlin Philharmonic, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Symphony Orchestras of Vienna and Prague, the Philharmonic Orchestras of St. Petersburg, Oslo, Stockholm, Warsaw and Israel, the Orchestre National de France, Zurich’s Tonhalle, Rome’s Santa Cecilia, and numerous radio orchestras in Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland and Sweden. He has also made several appearances with the NHK Symphony and the New Philharmonic Orchestras in Japan.
In North America, he has appeared with the orchestras of Pittsburgh, Detroit, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas, Indianapolis, Montreal, Vancouver, Rochester and Seattle, as well as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the New York Chamber Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa) and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall.

Yoav Talmi’s summer activities includes the Aspen Music Festival, Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, Bergen Festival in Norway, Chautauqua Festival (NY), Helsinki Festival, Houston’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Jerusalem Festival, Montreal’s Lanaudière Festival and the Waterloo Festival in New Jersey.

Also a seasoned recording artist, Yoav Talmi has collaborated with Chandos, Decca, EMI, Naxos, Teldec. CBC Records (Toronto), Atma and Analekta (Montreal). His recording of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony with the Oslo Philharmonic won the prestigious “Grand Prix du Disque” in Paris. Mr. Talmi’s recording of Schoenberg and Tchaikovsky with the Israel Chamber Orchestra for Teldec was chosen “Record of the Month” by Germany’s Fono-Forum magazine. The London Penguin Guide gave this same recording its highest rating. His recent recording French Showpieces with the Quebec Symphony and violinist James Ehnes was chosen “Record of the Month” by the French media magazine Repertoire, who gave this recording a perfect rating.

Talmi’s Naxos recordings with the San Diego Symphony feature an all-Berlioz cycle that includes the Symphonie Fantastique, the complete overtures, Roméo et Juliette, Harold in Italy, Rêverie et Caprice, excerpts from Les Troyens, and more. He has recorded also as pianist, accompanying his wife, flutist Er’ella Talmi.

Born in Israel, Yoav Talmi is a graduate of the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv and The Juilliard School in New York, where he earned degrees in both composition and conducting with grants from the America Israel Cultural Foundation (AICF). He was a recipient of the Koussevitzky Memorial Conducting Prize at the Tanglewood Festival [1969] and the Rupert Conductor’s Competition in London [1973].
Last July 2008, Yoav Talmi was awarded the ‘Frank Pelleg’ prize of the Israeli Cultural Ministry, for his high-level artistic achievements through many years of activity and in August 2008 he received the Quebec-City Medal, honoring his special contribution to the city’s 400 anniversary celebrations.

Maestro Talmi holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Laval University in Quebec, Canada.

Yoav and Er’ella Talmi have two children - Gil Talmi, a film-score composer, living and working in New York City and Dana Talmi, a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of social work.