BIOGRAPHY
Ira Givol loves Bach and NBA basketball and still hopes there might be a better way to combine these two passions than practicing Bach in front of a game.
He believes that good, active musicians do not need a conductor—unless the conductor happens to be Carlos Kleiber or Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
As an adolescent, Ira listened obsessively to the Beatles, which makes it all the more surprising that he became a classical musician. Considering that the first cello recordings he encountered were by Paul Tortelier (Bach) and Jacqueline du Pré (Elgar Concerto), it is perhaps equally curious that he later chose to explore the world of historical performance practice.
His first visit to the cinema, in 1993, was to see "Tous les Matins du Monde". This experience may well explain his eventual desire to learn the viola da gamba.
Growing up as one of four brothers likely contributed to his competitive nature—something that proved useful when winning several international chamber music competitions.
Classical concerts can be awfully boring. Isn’t that a shame?
Ira does his best to change that whenever possible.
What would he do without coffee in the morning?
Ira Givol is an internationally active cellist, viola da gamba player and concert designer whose work combines historically informed performance with contemporary artistic thinking and innovative concert formats. His practice spans performance, artistic leadership, and long-term programming, exploring how early and classical music can remain urgent, meaningful, and socially resonant today. Currently, Ira is Principal Cellist of Il Gardellino and a member of its artistic team (Belgium). He has been a core member of Geneva Camerata since its founding and is part of the artistic team of Boulevard Baroque (Germany). He regularly appears as guest principal cellist with leading ensembles, including the Netherlands Bach Society. From 2019 to 2024, Ira served as Artistic Director of zamus: early music festival in Cologne. In this role, he shaped the festival’s artistic identity through coherent, concept-driven programming, innovative concert formats, and a strong emphasis on relevance, context, and audience engagement—positioning early music as an active and contemporary cultural practice. As a soloist, Ira has appeared with ensembles such as the Israel Symphony Orchestra, Israel Conservatory Orchestra, Young Israeli Philharmonic, Tel Aviv Soloists’ Ensemble, Geneva Camerata, Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, and Il Gardellino. He is a two-time prizewinner of both the Ben-Haim Competition and the Israel Conservatory of Music Competition. Chamber music has been central to Ira’s career. As a founding member of the Tel Aviv Trio, he received numerous international awards, including First Prize at the Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Haute Alsace(France), as well as prizes at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition (Australia), Vittorio Gui International Chamber Music Competition (Italy), Città di Trapani International Chamber Music Competition (Italy), the Joseph Joachim Competition (Germany), and the Erst-Klassik Competition (Germany). The trio also received the 2006 Israeli Ministry of Education Prize for Chamber Music and performed in major concert halls worldwide. He is also a founding member of Trio VIS, winner of the 2009 Boris Pergamenschikov Competition in Berlin. With the trio, he co-developed the “64 Things Show”, an innovative concert format that rethinks how classical music is presented to contemporary audiences. Ira has recorded numerous solo and chamber music albums for leading international labels, including Deutsche Grammophon, Sony, Accent, Passacaglia, and others. He is a graduate of the Outstanding Young Musicians Program of the Jerusalem Music Center. His studies include work with Lawrence Lesser and Vivian and Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory in Boston, modern cello studies with Frans Helmerson at the Musikhochschule Köln, and baroque cello and viola da gamba studies with Rainer Zipperling. Ira performs on cello by Peter Rombouts, 1720 Amsterdam.