Benjamin Yusupov is Music Director and Principal Conductor of "Israel Soloists" Chamber Orchestra founded by him in 2015. As well, he serves as Music Director and Principal Conductor of Hakfar Hayarok Youth Symphony Orchestra since 2012. Yusupov currently serves as Composer-in-Residence of Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.
The music of Yusupov is not limited by genre classifications or cultural and ethnic idioms, but rather embraces and employs all styles and influences to create his own unique musical language both as a composer and a conductor. In his compositions, he makes use of both Western and Eastern musical traditions, including the use of musical sources from various ethnic communities. With a strong devotion to timbre and color as important structural elements, Yusupov’s writing includes both the use of exotic instruments and the creation of illusory ethnic sounds by employing instruments of the symphony orchestra.
His extensive catalogue, which is published exclusively by Sikorski Musikverlag (Hamburg), has been performed extensively by a wide range of renowned artists and orchestra across the globe the likes of the London Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Bogota Philharmonic, New World Symphony, NDR Radio-Philharmonie Hannover, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, to name a few.
Yusupov works closely with outstanding artists as Maxim Vengerov, Mischa Maisky, Vadim Repin, Alexander Kniazev, Maxim Rysanov, Sergei Nakariakov, Konstantin Lifschitz, Reinhold Friedrich and others.
In 2005, Yusupov’s Viola Tango Rock Concerto - written for the internationally-renowned violinist Maxim Vengerov – enjoyed a triumphant world-premiere by the NDR Radio-Philharmonie in Hannover. The music has been welcomed with great enthusiasm by audiences and critics around the globe. The work has been featured in a documentary film about the life of Maxim Vengerov titled "Living the Dream" produced by EMI Classics and distributed worldwide.
Yusupov has also written Cello concerto for Mischa Maisky, commemorating the cellist’s 60th birthday and premiered by Mischa Maisky with Lucerne Symphony Orchestra conducted by the author. The piece was commissioned by three major orchestras: Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic. Deutsche Grammophon released the CD "20th CENTURY CLASSICS" with the recording of the Concerto from the world premiere.
“Voices of Violin” Concerto No.2 for violin and orchestra also represents an unusual idea: the soloist is invited to play six movements not only from different historical periods of time, not only from different geographical areas, but also different performance styles, styles of sound-making, bowing, intonation, grace notes and so on. The piece was commissioned by Trans-Siberian Art Festival 2014, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Berliner Symphoniker and performed by Vadim Repin to whom it’s dedicated.
The short list of venues Yusupov appeared as conductor includes KKL Lucerne, Berlin Philharmonie Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Prinzregententheater Munich, Cologne Philharmonie. He conducted among others Lucerne Symphony, Slovenian Philharmonic, Sinfonietta Amsterdam, Bogota Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony, Novosibirsk Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra, to name a few.
Born in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in 1962, Yusupov studied piano, composition and conducting at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow with Roman Ledeniov, Yuri Fortunatov and Dmitri Kitajenko. He received his PhD degree at Bar-Ilan University.
Yusupov was awarded the Clone Prize (1992), the Sherover Award (1993), the Israeli Prime Minister Prizes (1999, 2008), the ACUM Prizes (2002, 2004) the Landau Award for the Performing Arts (2007), the Engel Prize (2009), and the ACUM Prize for lifetime achievements (2016).
