Amit Dubester

Amit Dubester is an Israeli-born classical saxophonist. Amit began his musical studies in the Kfar Saba Conservatory. In 2005, he joined the class of Gan Lev in Tel Aviv.

Receiver of the AICF (America-Israel Cultural Foundation) scholarships in 2005-2009 as a member of the Kfar Saba and Tel Aviv Saxophone Quartets, and with distinction in 2009-2014 as a soloist. While pursuing his studies in Europe, Amit has enjoyed generous scholarships and grants by the French Embassy in Israel, as well as from the «Tzfunot Tarbut» association and «Pais» foundation. Amit has appeared as a soloist with various orchestras in Israel (Israeli Chamber Orchestra, Netanya-Hakibutzim Orchestra, in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art), as well as in Europe (Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, in the Palais des Musiques et des Congrès), and has performed both as a soloist and as member of different chamber music groups in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls and venues – Berlin Philharmonie, Musikverein Vienna, Tonhalle Zürich, Opernhaus Zürich, Bayreuth Festspiele, Charles Bronfman Auditorium (Israel Philharmonic), and the Kölner Philharmonie, to name a few.

Furthermore, he has played under the batons of Maestri Zubin Mehta, Asher Fisch, Andrés Orozco Estrada, Michail Jurowski, Omer M. Wellber, David Stern, Frederic Chaslin, and more. As an active performer of New Music, Amit has participated in various projects with renowned composers such as Alvin Lucier, George Aperghis, Vinko Globokar, Brett Dean, Gérman Toro- Pérez, José Maria Sánchez Verdú, Philippe Leroux, Klaus Lang and Micha Seidenberg. In addition, Amit has been invited to perform and record with some of the world's leading contemporary ensembles, such as Ensemble Ictus (Brussels) and the Israel Contemporary Players (Tel Aviv), and has been invited to perform a solo recital in the "Tzlil Meudcan” Festival (Tel Aviv), organised by Ensemble Nikel. Furthermore, he has put it as an important artistic mission to collaborate with young and promising Israeli composers, which has led to innovative projects with composers as Goni, Peles, Avshalom Ariel, Udi Perlman, and more.

Prize winner of numerous international music competitions, among which are «Concours de Jeunes Talents» (Strasbourg, 2014), the prestigious «François Shapira» Prize for woodwinds in the «Aviv» Competitions (Tel Aviv, 2015), «Rising Stars Grand Prix International Music Competition, Berlin» (2016 and 2017), «Vienna Grand Prize Virtuoso» (2017), as well as the competition for contemporary music in ZHdK (Zurich, 2017/2019).

In 2014, Amit went on to pursue his academic studies in France, and started his Bachelor studies in the class of Philippe Geiss in the Academy of Music and Dance in Strasbourg. In 2016, Amit began his Masters studies in ZHdK (Zurich University of the Arts) in the class of Prof. Lars Mlekusch. He now holds an MA in Music Performance from ZHdK, and in 2019 began his Master of Arts in Music Pedagogy studies in the same institution.

Amit aspires to express himself in a vast palette of musical langages. He is a passionate performer of transctiptions, as well as new music, and since 2015 has been active in the field of free improvisation. Following several years of studying with renowned drummer and pedagoge Lucas Niggli, Amit has formed his own free improvisation quartet, callled Piffalamozza, which specializes in presenting to the audience the fascinating world of Commedia dell’Arte through a unique mixture of early music, free improvisation, and original compositions, combined with different theatrical aspects, all of which correspond with the stories taken from that time.

Between 2017-2019, Amit has been working as the assistant in the saxophone class of Prof. Lars Mlekusch in the Zurich University of the arts, one of the leading classes of classical saxophone. Furthermore, he’s a founding member and teacher in the «Alhayez» Arab-Jewish School for Arts in Akko, Israel, which is destined to serve as a bridge between the two populations through a shared passion for the arts.

Since 2019 Amit is working as the saxophone teacher in the PreCollege department in the Zurich University of the arts.

Photo credit : Michael Pavia