16th Contest 2006 – Sivan Magen, Israel

Following the Israeli harpist Sivan Magen’s April 2006 performance at Alice Tully Hall, the New-York Sun wrote: “Sivan Magen dazzled…Mr. Magen delivered a dramatically charged, suitably mysterious, and stunningly strong-handed realization…His tone was superb”.

Sivan Magen is the First Prize Winner of the 16th International Harp Contest in Israel (2006), in which he has also won the Propes Prize for the best performance of the required Israeli piece, and the Reni? Prize for the best performance of Henriette Reni?’s “Ballade Fantastique”. The First Prize consists of a custom made style 23 gold concert grand harp which will be presented to him in a Gala Recital in Lyon & Healy’s Chicago concert hall, a debut recital in London’s Wigmore Hall and a CD recording, both presented by the Victor Salvi Foundation, and a concerto appearance with the Rishon Letzion Symphony Orchestra. Mr Magen is the first Israeli to have won this prestigious contest in its 47 years of existence.

Having won the prestigious “Premier Prix” (Prix mention Tr?s Bien) of the Paris Conservatory, Sivan Magen has performed at Le Trianon and Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Kfar-Blum Festival in Israel, recorded for Israeli Radio and Television, and participated in the 2006 Marlboro Music Festival. As a soloist he performed with most of the Israeli orchestras, including the Israeli Philharmonic.

Born in Jerusalem, Sivan Magen studied the piano with Professor Benjamin Oren and Talma Cohen and the harp with Irena Kaganovsky at the Jerusalem Academy for Music and Dance. After finishing his military service as an “Outstanding Musician” in 2001, he continued his studies with Germaine Lorenzini in France and was accepted to Isabelle Moretti’s harp class at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP) from which he graduated in June 2005. He’s currently a member of Nancy Allen’s studio at the Juilliard School in New York.

Sivan Magen is a winner of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarships since 1995.