Guy Pardo     harpsichord, organ

 Physicist and harpsichord player, a graduate (magna cum laude) of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in a unique program that included music (harpsichord), physics, and musicology. He studied under Yuval Admony, Yaron Rosenthal (piano) and prof. David Shemer (harpsichord).

As a pianist, Guy participated in several international music seminars including: Music Fest Perugia (Italy), Tel-Hai International Piano Masterclasses (Sde-Boker), Primavera Pianistica (Belgium) and Poros Music Festival. Performed as a soloist with the Sinfonietta Orchestra of Athens and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Alicante University (Spain).

As a harpsichord player, he was awarded the 2020-21 Sharett Grant for Creative Excellence in early music performance (AICF), participated in masterclass sessions with Kenneth Weiss at the Israel Conservatory of Music and with Corina Morti during the Vocal Fantasy Festival (Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra). He produced and performed the live-streamed online vocal concert “Flames and tears” (with Liron Givoni, soprano) under the auspices of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura.

Pardo is a founding member of the “Nari Baroque Ensemble” that recently won first prize in the ensembles category of the “Tel Aviv Recorder Festival 2021” competition. “Nari” performs in major Israeli chamber music concert series and festivals, including the “Felicia Blumental International music Festival” in Tel-Aviv, “Youth at the center” in the Jerusalem Music center, “The Holiday of Holidays” festival in Haifa, and “Monday Afternoon Concerts” in Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem. He also regularly plays continuo with other JAMD students for their daily work, and works as an accompanist for competitions and recitals. Guy Pardo is a member of Ensemble PHOENIX. 

Aviad Stier      harpsichord, organ

Aviad Stier's began his musical career as a pianist in his hometown, Haifa. After his military service he studied musicology and conducting at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. At 17, he discovered the harpsichord, later becoming a frequent participant of the Jerusalem Early Music Workshops, and took master classes with Ketil Haugsand, John Toll, Lars-Ulrik Mortenses and Trevor Pinnock, among others. In 1999 he started his masters degree in harpsichord with Herman Stinders at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, from which he graduated with distinction. After his graduation he moved to London, while continuing working in Brussels as a coach and accompanist. In 2006 he returned to Israel.

Aviad Stier plays regularly in concerts all over Israel and Europe, as a solo as well as continuo player, and has been playing for the past 15 years with Das Neue Orchester and Chorus Musicus Köln under Christoph Spering. He also played with orchestras and opera companies under Barthold Kuijken, Sigiswald Kuijken, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Andrew Parrott, Andreas Spering and Erik Van Nevel. Aviad Stier specializes in coaching and accompaniment of singers and in late-baroque solo keyboard repertoire.

David Shemer     harpsichord

David Shemer, harpsichordist, conductor and teacher, is a leading figure of the Israeli early music scene. He was born in Riga, Latvia and immigrated to Israel at an early age. After completing his studies at the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, he specialized in baroque performance practice in London, where he studied with some of the most illustrious teachers, such Christopher Kite, Jill Severs and Trevor Pinnock. Shemer is a Doctor of Musical Arts, a degree conferred on him by the University of New York at Stony Brook.

David Shemer is the founder, musical director and conductor of the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra. He appears frequently as solo harpsichord player and as member of several chamber-music groups, such as The Jerusalem Consort, which he founded in 1984, C.P.E. Bach Ensemble (together with German musicians) and Copenhagen Soloists. He performs and records widely in Israel, Europe and in the USA, as a soloist, chamber musician and conductor. A CD of Bach Goldberg Variations played by David Shemer has been released recently and was received with great enthusiasm both by the audience and by the critics.

Shemer teaches harpsichord and early music at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and has done so since 1982; he also taught at the Jerusalem Early Music Workshop during all the 20 years of its existence. In addition, he has given numerous master classes in Israel, as well as in England, Germany, Italy, USA, and in Riga (Latvia) - his birth town.

"David Shemer, with his truly crystal playing, convinced me that a harpsichordist can be called a virtuoso." Russkaya Pressa, Latvia.

Yizhar Karshon    harpsichord, organ

Born in Israel, Yizhar Karshon is a harpsichord player, recently graduated from the prestigious early music school, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, having studied with Jörg-Andreas Bötticher (harpsichord and thourogh-bass) and Rudolf Lutz (Keyboard Improvisation). He is also a graduate from the Jerusalem Music Academy, having studied with David Shemer at the Musicology department of the Hebrew University.

Yizhar Karshon has participated in many international early music festivals, such as the Utrecht Early Music Festival in Holland, the Brežice Festival in Slovenia and the York Early Music Festival in England. In Israel he has performed in the music festivals of Abu-Gosh, Kfar-Blum and Ben-Haim and within the concert series of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion and the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra. He is the founder and musical director of qui regna amore, an early music ensemble that combines musicians from Israel and from Europe. He is as well a member of the modern music ensemble Three Plucked Strings, with which he has performed in Israel, Switzerland, Italy and the Philippines.

Yizhar Karshon was awarded a special governmental Swiss scholarship to studying in Switzerland (ESKAS), an excellence scholarship from the Dean of the Performing Arts Faculty in the Jerusalem Music Academy, and scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

Marina Minkin     harpsichord, fortepiano

Dr. Marina Minkin holds degrees in piano and harpsichord performance from Boston University and Jerusalem Academy of Music. In 1998, she earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Historical Performance (Professor Mark Kroll), her dissertation being a study of the Italian composer Anna Bon’s life and work.

Marina Minkin is the founding member and director of the Ad Libitum Ensemble which features period instrument musicians from both the US and Israel. Among the latest chamber music festivals, she has appeared at the Fifth International Recorder Festival in Montreal, Canada, the “Maestro” Festival at Ein Hod, Israel, the Abu Gosh Festival, Israel, and the Ogunquit Chamber Music Festival, Maine. From 2009 Dr Minkin has been appointed as the Artistic Director of the Yehiam Renaissance Festival (Western Galilee, Israel).

Her recordings include the CD Harpsichord Music by Israeli Composers (ALBANY RECORDS), the album Bach, Bach & Bach (ARTONA) featuring sonatas for viola and harpsichord by J.S. Bach and his sons (with Michael Zaretsky, viola), and numerous appearances on the WGBH radio station (Boston), and the Kol Israel classical music radio station (Israel).

Currently Marina Minkin is residing in Israel; she teaches harpsichord and baroque music courses at the Tel-Aviv University Buchmann- Mehta School of Music, at the Israeli Conservatory in Tel-Aviv and at the Jezreel Valley Art Center.