Lahav Shani
(c) Marco Borggreve
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra has appointed Lahav Shani, 27, as chief conductor, starting September 2018. He will be the successor to Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who will remain with the orchestra as honorary conductor.
Lahav Shani will join the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in its 100th anniversary year; he will be the youngest chief conductor the orchestra has ever had. In his first five years, he will work with the orchestra for an average of twelve weeks per season. Lahav Shani made his debut in Rotterdam in June this year, not only as conductor, but also as piano soloist. Subsequently, the members of the orchestra unanimously selected Shani as their new chief conductor.
Lahav Shani (born in Tel Aviv, 1989) took his first piano lesson at the age of six. He then also learned to play the double bass, he studied orchestral conducting and in 2013 he won the prestigious Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition.
