Sivan Magen - Biography

Sivan Magen was supported by BBT between 2012 and 2018.  For an up-to-date biography go to www.sivanmagen.com.

Praised by the press as “a magician” (New York’s WQXR), whose “virtuoso playing conjures an astonishing range of colour and dynamic” (The Daily Telegraph) and “brilliant sound and remarkable technical acumen shatter any stereotype of his instrument” (The New York Times), Sivan Magen is the only Israeli to have ever won the International Harp Contest in Israel. He is also a winner of the Pro Musicis International Award and, in 2012, was chosen by a committee headed by Dame Mitsuko Uchida as a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award winner. He has appeared as a soloist across the US, South America, Europe and Israel, at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Sydney Opera House and the Vienna Konzerthaus, and with orchestras such as the Israel Philharmonic, the Strasbourg Philharmonic, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.

An avid chamber musician, Magen has performed at the Marlboro, Kuhmo, Giverny, and Jerusalem International Chamber Music festivals, with Musicians from Marlboro, and collaborated with artists such as Nobuko Imai, Shmuel Ashkenazi, Gary Hoffman, Emmanuel Pahud, Susanna Phillips, and members of the Guarneri and Juilliard Quartets. He is a founding member of Israeli Chamber Project and of Trio Tre Voci (with flautist Marina Piccinini and violist Kim Kashkashian).

In addition to his two solo albums for Linn Records (Fantasien and French Reflections, both supported by BBT), Magen has released acclaimed recordings for Avie, Azica, Koch International, ECM and with Musicians for Marlboro. In Spring 2017 he was a visiting Professor at the Paris Conservatory and, since September 2017, he has been the principal harpist of the Finnish Radio Symphony.

Magen participated in BBT’s 20th-anniversary celebrations at London’s Wigmore Hall, June 2023.

The support the BBT offers is incomparable to any other foundation I know, as it doesn’t only present its winners with a sum of money, but it also offers us the benefit of the invaluable experience of its staff, a connection to some of the most illustrious members of the music world and a place in a close-knit family of artist-colleagues and friends. I feel most lucky to have deserved this Trust, and am looking forward to our journey together.

Photographs by Simon Weir