Hailed as “an extremely gifted violinist with a strong stage personality and charisma,” Netanel Draiblate has concertized across four continents. The versatile artist performs as a soloist, chamber musician and recording artist and has been called “a violinist who combines confidence and virtuosity with a playful musical personality” by The Washington Post.
Recent highlights include performances of Jim Stephenson’s violin concerto Tributes with the Lake Forest Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra featuring his own cadenza, a recording of Lou Harrison’s Suite for Violin, Piano and Chamber Orchestra with the Post-Classical Ensemble in Washington, D.C., and Coriglianos’ The Red Violin Chaconne with the Annapolis Symphony. Draiblate’s past engagements include appearances with the American Symphony at Carnegie Hall, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the Brasilia Concert Society Orchestra and Turkey’s Bursa Symphony Orchestra. In 2018 he marked his second summer as artist in residence at the Aruba Symphony Festival where he was featured in Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe and appeared as soloist with the AACC Symphony Orchestra in their Kennedy Center debut as part of the Capital Orchestra Festival. Draiblate has also performed with the Ashdod, Rishon Le Zion and Mediterranean Symphony Orchestras. Next season he will be featured in Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins with the Lake Forest Symphony. He has also appeared as soloist with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra on a tour throughout China.
As a chamber musician, Draiblate has collaborated with Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma, ltzhak Perlman, Jaime Laredo and Cho Liang Lin, performing in many of the world’s premiere venues. Last season he performed with members of the New York Philharmonic as part of the Lancaster International Piano Festival and served on its’ faculty and was featured on a special concert for the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Draiblate made his Canadian debut last season and performed on the Friday Music Series at Georgetown. Draiblate tours with his duo partner, pianist Lura Johnson, as Times Two in a program dedicated to Brahms,and continues to explore the lesser known works for violin/piano duo. He led a string quartet in a special program celebrating the 50thanniversary of German-Israeli diplomatic relations at Carnegie Hall, with an encore performance in Washington, DC for the Embassy Series. He made his Ravinia debut in this same program last summer.
Perspectives, Draiblate’s debut solo recording was recognized by American Record Guide as “very exciting and engaging. ”The recording features works by Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Elgar, Grieg and Kreisler.
A sought-after teacher, Draiblate is the Founder and Director of the Annapolis Symphony Academy, and currebtky serves as the Director of Chamber Music at Georgetown University. He is a faculty member at the annual Dali Quartet International Music Festival and in summer of 2019 will serve on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. He has held faculty positions and led master classes at Towson University, Goiania University (Brazil), Brasilia University (Brazil), Recife Conservatory (Brazil), the Holon Young Artists Festival (Israel) and has previously taught at the West Branch International Festival, the Endless Mountain Music Festival, for the World Youth Orchestra and the Campina-Grande International Music Festival in Brazil.
Recognized as a violinist whose artistry “combines confidence and eloquence,” Draiblate is currently concertmaster of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Washington, DC based PostClassical Ensemble whose mission is to perform works created after 1900. He has also served as concertmaster for Tel-Aviv Soloists, the World Youth Orchestra, Israel Young Philharmonic, and held a leading position with the historic West Eastern Divan Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Daniel Barenboim.
In 2012 Draiblate created ND-Publishing to publish his original compositions as well as cadenzas for celebrated concertos. Last season saw the world premiere of his newly published Beethoven and Brahms Violin Concerti cadenzas.
In celebration of the Oslo Accords fourth anniversary, Draiblate performed in a special concert hosted by the King of Norway. His awards include first prize at the Jerusalem Academy Solo Competition (1998), the Ben-Haim Competition (1995), finalist at the Young Artists Competition in Haifa (1999), and a major prize in the Peabody Conservatory's Yale Gordon Competition (2006). He was the first violinist to be supported by the Ilona Feher Foundation and performed in the foundation’s Gala concert at Carnegie Hall. Early in his career he was honored to play on the personal violin of Ms. Feher. Scholarships have been awarded to him from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, the Ronen Foundation, the Barenboim-Said Foundation, the Buchman Haiman Foundation and the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. As child, Draiblate was asked to play for Isaac Stern during a master class in Jerusalem. Following the class, Stern arranged to give a 7/8 violin to him with a note saying “he would like me to have it until I grew out of it.”
Draiblate studied with the renowned Pamela Frank, Vali Blutner, Hagai Shaham, Shmuel Ashkenasi and David Salness, and has participated in master classes with Isaac Stern, Dorothy Delay, Pinchas Zukerman, Zachar Bron and Miriam Fried.
When not concertizing, Mr. Draiblate enjoys flying as a certified flight instructor, and cooking at home.