Ina-Esther Joost Ben-Sasson – Cellist – Jerusalem, Israel
Since her immigration to Israel in 1989, Ina-Esther Joost Ben-Sasson has been the Principal Cellist and frequent soloist of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra IBA.
German born, she studied with P. Fournier, S. Celibidache and E. Barenboim, after receiving her Soloist’s Diploma at the State’s Music Academy Hamburg (Germany). Having won top prizes, including the Diploma of the Tchaikovsky Competition, Moscow, and the 1st Prize of the International Cello Competition Belgrade, she has been in high demand as a soloist in Europe, the USA, South Korea, Israel and Brazil, being accompanied by world renowned symphony orchestras from Paris, Geneva, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Tokyo, Jerusalem and Rio de Janeiro.
Following her performance at the World Cello Congress III in Baltimore, USA in 2000, she was invited as a Visiting Professor at Towson University, MD in 2001. She played in concerts and festivals and made her New York début with overwhelming success.
Her recordings include French and Israeli compositions for cello solo (IMI), a CD with Romantic and Impressionistic music for cello and piano, the Six Suites by Bach, “Nigunim” for cello solo, a CD with compositions by Gabriel Faure for cello and piano (NAXOS, 2010), and her CD with Russian sonatas for cello and piano, published by NAXOS in 2014.
Many Israeli composers have dedicated solo works to her.
During recent years, she has combined performing as a soloist and teaching master classes in the USA, in Brazil (International Cello Encounter Rio de Janeiro), in Mexico, Poland, Germany, France, Canada and China.