Eli Ebanclarinetist

Eli Eban was born in New York and received his early musical training in Israel, studying the clarinet with Richard Lesser and Yona Ettlinger. He continued his education at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Anthony Gigliotti. Immediately upon graduation, he was appointed principal clarinetist of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra under Lukas Foss, and shortly thereafter he joined the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the invitation of Maestro Zubin Mehta. During his thirteen seasons with the Israel Philharmonic, he performed and recorded all the major orchestral repertoire with the world's finest conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Sir Simon Rattle, Leonard Slatkin, Sir Georg Solti, and Klaus Tennstedt. He was soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra on many occasions, and also performed concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican Center, the City of London Sinfonia at Royal Festival Hall, the Salzburg Mozarteum Camerata, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Israel Camerata Jerusalem, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and the Louisville Orchestra, among others.

Mr. Eban tours extensively as a chamber musician, collaborating with world renowned artists and ensembles. He has been guest artist with the Alexander, Audubon, Orion, St. Petersburg, Tel Aviv and Ying Quartets. He was a frequent participant of the famed Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont. While at Marlboro, he was invited by legendary Hungarian violinist Sandor Vegh to perform at the Prussia Cove festival in England, drawing critical acclaim from the London Guardian for his "high-powered, electrifying performances". His subsequent recordings for Meridian Records, London, were cited by the Penguin Guide To CDs as being "full of life and highly sensitive." He has also recorded for the Saphir, Crystal and Naxos labels. Mr. Eban was a member of Myriad, (a chamber ensemble formed by members of the Cleveland Orchestra) for seven years, and has often traveled to Eastern Europe to perform and teach as a visiting artist of the European Mozart Foundation.

 Eban served as visiting professor of clarinet at the Eastman School of Music before joining the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 1990. In 2007 he was named a Rudy Professor by the Indiana University Board of Trustees. This distinguished ranks professorship is named after James H. Rudy, an Indiana University graduate who dedicated his estate to the recognition and retention of outstanding faculty.

Eli Eban divides his time between teaching at Indiana University, performing with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and touring as a soloist and chamber musician. His summers are spent performing and teaching at the Sarasota Music Festival and playing principal clarinet in the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. Recent engagements include a world tour as acting principal clarinetist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Lorin Maazel, and critically accaimed performances at London's Wigmore Hall.