Music Director and Conductor: Dan Ettinger
CEO: Ofer Sela
Founded in 1988 by Mayor Meir Nitzan, the orchestra was entrusted to hometown pianist-composer-conductor Shimon Cohen, its first music director. Since 1989, it has been based in Rishon LeZion and also serves as the Israeli Opera orchestra.
Praised for its artistry and ambitious programming, the ISORL has toured Italy, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Finland’s Savonlinna Festival, Mexico’s El Cervantino, and the Israel-Germany-Poland cultural exchange in Rishon LeZion. Its two concert tours in China were a huge success, filling halls in Qingdao, Beijing, and Shanghai.
The orchestra has played under the batons of Dan Ettinger, Daniel Oren, Asher Fish, Michael Boder, Michail Jurowski, Benjamin Wallfisch, Karl-Heinz Steffens, David Greilsammer, Paolo Olmi, Kristjan Järvi, Christian Zacharias, Daniel Boyko, Evan-Alexis Christ, Vladimir Spivakov, Enrique Arturo Diemecke, John Axelrod, and Gianluca Marciano.
The list of soloists who have played with the orchestra includes world-renowned virtuosi: Shlomo Mintz, David Garrett, Daniil Trifonov, Alexander Korsantia, Sergey Nekrasov, Mischa Maisky, Sharon Kam, Alexei Volodin, Denis Kozhukhin, and Shirley Brill.
Past music directors were Shimon Cohen, Noam Sheriff, Asher Fish, Mendy Rodan, and James Judd.
Today, Dan Ettinger is joined by assistant conductor and bassoonist Rotem Nir, principal violinist Eckert Lorenzen, and associate principal Genrich Goffin.
ISORL members—Israeli-born and immigrant musicians alike—blend diverse traditions into a distinctive sound, earning acclaim for championing Israeli music and winning the ACUM Award for excellence.