Yamen Saadi

Yamen Saadi was born in 1997 in Nazareth, where he received his first violin lesson at the Barenboim-Said Conservatory. He was later taught by Chaim Taub, the leader of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Up to the summer of 2019 he ultimately studied under Mihaela Martin at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin. Saadi gave his first solo concert at the age of eleven with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra. At the same age, Saadi joined the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, founded and conducted by Daniel Barenboim, of which he became leader just six years later.

Yamen Saadi has received a scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation on three occasions. In addition, he has been awarded first prize in the Paul Ben Haim Competition and second prize in the Clermont competition. He won first place in violin at the 32nd annual Aviv Competition 2020.

As a soloist, Yamen Saadi has performed with the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orquestra de València under conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Lawrence Foster and Christoph Poppen. Further international appearances have taken him to Europe, Asia and the USA, where he has performed at the Rheingau Music Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival and New York's Carnegie Hall, among others.

Yamen Saadi is an active chamber musician. He has travelled the US, Europe and Asia with several different chamber music ensembles and played in concert halls such as the Philharmonie de Paris and the Pierre Boulez Saal. In addition, he has participated in many festivals, including Rolandseck Festival, the Grachtenfestival, Hamburg International Chamber Music Festival, Gotland Chamber Music Festival, the Kfar Blum Music Festival and the Jerusalem Festival. He has shared the stage with musicians such as Daniel Barenboim, Guy Braunstein, Amichai Grosz, Alisa Weilerstein and Sergei Krylov. Saadi has been a member of the Boulez Ensemble since 2016 and involved in the non-profit organisation Musethica since 2017.

In January 2022, he released his first CD, Voices from Paris. 

He is currently playing on a violin made by Antonio Stradivari 1734 previously owned and played by Chaim Taub and a Jacob Eury bow, both generously loaned to him by Stephan Jansen.

Since 2022, Yamen Saadi is concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. 

Yamen Saadi participated in the 2019 Violin Masterclasses at Kronberg Academy, where he was awarded the Prince of Hesse Prize. From 2019 to 2023 he has studied at Kronberg Academy with Mihaela Martin. These studies were funded by the Jürgen Fitschen/Friederike Lohse patronage.