Described by The Times as "God’s Gift to the flute", Sharon Bezaly was chosen as ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ by the prestigious Klassik Echo in Germany in 2002 and ‘Young Artist of the Year’ at the Cannes Classical Awards in 2003. Classics Today has hailed her as "a flutist virtually without peer in the world today" and International Record Review wrote "Her recordings and concert appearances are typically more than simply triumphs: they are defining artistic events".Having started to play the flute at the age of 11, Sharon Bezaly gave her début concert as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta when she was 14.
On the advice of Jean-Pierre Rampal she continued her studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris under Alain Marion, Raymond Guiot and Maurice Bourgue, winning the Academy’s first prizes for flute and chamber music. She was subsequently invited by Sándor Végh to play as principal flautist in his Camerata Academica Salzburg, a position she held until his death in 1997.
Since then, Sharon Bezaly has concentrated on expanding her solo career and is one of the very rare full-time, international flute soloists. She has performed with orchestras such as the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo and Osaka Philharmonics, and São Paulo Symphony Orchestras. As a Radio 3 New Generation Artist, Sharon has performed with all of the BBC Orchestras.
She has also played as soloist with the Royal Scottish National, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the prestigious last night of the Welsh proms, with the Stockholm and the Helsinki philharmonic orchestras, the SWR and Belgian National Orchestra, appearing in prestigious venues such as the Vienna Musikverein, Cologne Philharmonie, Tokyo Suntory Hall, the Rudolfinum in Prague, Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels and both the Châtelet and Salle Gaveau in Paris.Without neglecting the standard repertoire, Sharon Bezaly is committed to the music of our time and has inspired renowned composers as far-ranging as Sofia Gubaidulina, Kalevi Aho and Sally Beamish to write for her.
To date Sharon has ten dedicated concertos which she performs around the world – she has played Aho’s concerto more than a dozen times on four continents. Sharon has commented: "In recent years my sights have been turning towards a wider horizon and I hope that, by inspiring challenging composers to create new works, it could propel the flute further into the spotlight as well as provide standard repertoire for generations to come".Sharon Bezaly is the first wind player to be chosen as artist in residence 07/08 for the Residetie orchestra den Haag, Chief conductor Neeme Järvi, she will appear with the Orchestra is numerous projects thought the season Other highlights for season 07/08 are recitals at the Wigmore hall in London and the Concertgebouw, performances with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Holland, Bergen Phil Orch./Litton Tonkünstler Orchestra at the Musikverein in Vienna as well as tours to Japan/Vänska, Brazil/Neschling Taiwan, Singapore and SpainSharon Bezaly has an exclusive contract with the Swedish label BIS and her wide-ranging recordings - 20 CDs to date - have won her the highest accolade, including the Diapason d’or (Diapason), Choc du Monde de la Musique (Monde de la Musique), Editor’s Choice (Gramophone), CD of the Month (BBC Music Magazine), Stern des Monats (FonoForum), Recommandé (Répertoire) and Recomendado (CD Compact).Sharon plays on a 24-carat gold flute, especially built for her by the Muramatsu team, Japan. Her perfect control of circular breathing (taught by Aurèle Nicolet) liberates her from the limitations of the flute as a wind instrument, enabling her to reach new peaks of musical interpretation, presenting an extended spectrum of colours and emotions. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has compared her to David Oistrakh and Vladimir Horowitz.
