Alon Sariel
was born in Beersheba, Israel, and frequently appears as a mandolinist, lutenist and conductor in the fields of early and new music. He has performed numerous contemporary works written specially for him. Concert tours have taken him to internationally renowned festivals, including the Salzburg Biennale for New Music and the Utrecht Early Music Festival, and to major stages including the Berlin Philharmonie and La Scala in Milan. His openness to other genres, from folk to avant-garde, has united him in concerts with eminent champions of various styles. Notable performance partners include the great soprano Emma Kirkby, the outstanding trumpeter Markus Stockhausen, violinist Jean-Christophe Spinosi, accordionist and banjo player Stian Carstensen and clarinettist David Krakauer. Engagements as a soloist and conductor have seen him perform with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Jerusalem Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Sofia Philharmonic, the Tel Aviv Soloists and the Barokksolistene ensemble in Norway.

Alon Sariel has won international competitions, received prizes and accolades and is involved in music and social projects including Live Music Now (Yehudi Menuhin), Rhapsody in School (Lars Vogt) and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (Daniel Barenboim). As a soloist and member of various ensembles he has toured Europe, the USA, Mexico, the Middle East and the Far East. He has given master classes at such universities as Trinity College of Music in London, the Lilla Akademien in Stockholm and the conservatories of Kazan, Russia, and Celaya, Mexico.

He also appears in the global media and on broadcasting stations including Arte, BBC4, BR, WDR3, P2 Klassiskt, Kol HaMusica, WQXR and WNYC. Sariel’s discography encompasses world premieres including trios for plucked instruments by Paul Ben-Haim (Albany Records) and Yehezkel Braun (IMI), the composition Nedudim (wanderings) for mandolin and string orchestra by Gilad Hochman (with the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin for the Neue Meister concert series) and the album Paisiello in Vienna, a highly acclaimed release by Brilliant Classics that marked the 200th anniversary of the Italian composer’s death. In addition to his work as artistic director of the international ensemble Concerto Foscari, Alon Sariel is a founding member of the PRISMA quartet, with which he won first prize at the International H.I.F. Biber Competition in Austria in 2015. Telemandolin is Sariel’s debut CD for Berlin Classics.

Ensemble Concerto Foscari
Under the direction of Alon Sariel, Concer- to Foscari brings together young international musicians who share a special affinity with Baroque music. The ensemble aims to draw people of all generations to the music of the 17th and 18th centuries by giving inspirational concerts. Its performance schedule comprises mainly rare or forgotten works, played on period instruments. One of Concerto Foscari’s main missions is to educate people in music by a variety of means. To this end, the ensemble gives concerts for children and young people: in a way that is age-appropriate, creative and direct, very young audiences are given a taste of the beauty, sentiment and vitality of Baroque music and gain aesthetic insights into this music tradition.