Tal Shahar Ohana
Tal is the principal violinist (concertmaster) of the Weizmann Orchestra and one of its founding members. Her musical journey began at the age of 7 when she expressed a strong desire to play the violin. Her parents, pleasantly surprised by her determination, wasted no time in enrolling her at the music school in Arad. Over the next 25 years, Tal became an integral part of the Arad chamber orchestra, performing at numerous concerts and events across Israel and abroad. During her time at the Weizmann Institute, Tal pursued the field of Quantum Optics, earning her MSc and completing her PhD under the guidance of Prof. Barak Dayan. Beyond her academic pursuits, she held a profound aspiration to share her love for music with more scientists at the institute. For her, witnessing the orchestra grow from its humble beginnings, is like a dream turning into a reality!
Mikhail Labendik
Mikhail began playing the violin at the age of five under the patient guidance of Svetlana Kolosovskaya at the music school in the town of Polevskoy, Russia. He performed and advanced in local and regional events, accompanied on piano by his sister Maria. After ten years of training in violin as a child, he developed an interest in the exact sciences and pursued his education in Physics and Mathematics. He obtained his BSc degree from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and continued as an MSc student in Condensed Matter Physics at the Weizmann Institute. When the Weizmann Orchestra was established, he joined its violin section, reviving his musical activities in the orchestra as well as in various chamber music groups.
Nadav Auerbach
Nadav began learning violin at the age of 9 mentored by his grandmother, Ruth Auerbach, who was a viola player for the Haifa Orchestra. Between the ages of 13 and 18, he studied with Gilad Hildeshaim and played with the Young and Bogrim (adult) Kibutzim Orchestra. During his undergraduate studies in physics and math at the Technion, he joined the Technion Orchestra and played in several chamber music groups. Today, he is a physics PhD student at Weizmann, playing in the Weizmann Orchestra and in a chamber music group.
Igor Katsevman
Igor discovered his passion for the violin at the age of 6. He has played with the Arad Chamber Orchestra and is currently playing in the Weizmann Orchestra. His musical interests are diverse, with a deep admiration for composers such as Piazzolla, Vivaldi, and Prokofiev.
Beyond music, Igor finds joy in exploring the mountains through his love for travel. An avid cyclist, he balances his artistic pursuits with a career in Marketing at Fintech.
Dinah Elashvili
Dinah Elashvili is a science writer in the Department of Resource Development at the Weizmann Institute of Science. As one of five sisters from a musical family, all of whom play the violin, Dinah began studying music at the age of three at the Peabody Preparatory of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, until the age of 21. After a nearly 20-year break, she began playing again and is now a member of two orchestras: the Weizmann Orchestra and the Modi’in Symphony Orchestra.
Boris Spektor
Boris has been playing the violin since before he was five — or, as his teacher liked to say, since he “could walk straight under the table”. He has been with the Arad orchestra since it began, and in addition to playing the violin, he is also skilled in drums, guitar, bass, and piano. Outside of music, he’s a coder with a BSc in Software Engineering from Ben-Gurion University and currently works as a software engineer at Unity in Tel Aviv.