Décrit par le New York Times comme un « harpiste à la gamme extraordinaire » dont « le son brillant et la remarquable maîtrise technique brisent tous les stéréotypes liés à son instrument », Sivan Magen est le seul Israélien à avoir remporté le Concours international de harpe en Israël. Il est également lauréat du Prix international Pro Musicis et du Prix Borletti-Buitoni Trust. Entre 2017-2023 il était harpiste solo de l'Orchestre de la Radio finlandaise et, depuis l'été 2023, il est professeur de harpe à la Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler de Berlin.
Sivan Magen s'est produit en récital et en tant que soliste avec des orchestres aux États-Unis, en Amérique du Sud, en Asie de l'Est, en Europe et en Israël, dans des salles telles que le Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Suntory Hall, l'Opéra de Sydney et le Konzerthaus de Vienne.
Passionné de musique de chambre, Magen s'est produit aux festivals internationaux de musique de chambre de Marlboro, Aspen, Rosendal, Kuhmo, Delft et Jérusalem entre autres. Il est membre fondateur du Israeli Chamber Project avec qui il se produit régulièrement en Amérique du Nord, en Europe et en Asie, et du Trio Tre Voci avec la flûtiste Marina Piccinini et l'altiste Kim Kashkashian.
Outre deux albums solo pour Linn Records, Magen a publié des enregistrements acclamés par la critique pour Avie, Azica, Koch International, ECM et Musicians for Marlboro. Son dernier enregistrement pour Ondine est le concerto pour harpe « Sigla » de Lotta Wennäkoski, commandé pour lui par l'Orchestre symphonique de la radio finlandaise. L'album a remporté le Gramophone Award 2023 dans la catégorie « contemporain ».
Described by the NY Times as a "harpist of extraordinary range" whose "brilliant
sound and remarkable technical acumen shatter any stereotype of his instrument",
Sivan Magen is the only Israeli to have ever won the International Harp Contest in
Israel, and is a winner of the Pro Musicis International Award as well as of the
Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. From 2017-2023 he was principal harpist of the Finnish
Radio Orchestra, and since Summer 2023 he is the professor for harp at the
Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin.
Sivan Magen appeared as a recitalist and as a soloist with orchestras across the US,
South America, East Asia, Europe and Israel, in venues such as Carnegie Hall,
Wigmore Hall, the Sydney Opera House and the Vienna Konzerthaus, and with
orchestras such as the Israel, Tampere and Strasbourg Philharmonics, the Finnish
Radio Orchestra, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Jerusalem Camerata, the Saint-Paul,
Vienna and Scottish Chamber Orchestras, and the Sydney, Jerusalem and Israel
Symphony Orchestras.
In addition to two solo albums for Linn records, Magen has released acclaimed
recordings for Avie, Azica, Koch International, ECM, and with Musicians for
Marlboro. His most recent recording for Ondine is of the harp concerto "Sigla" by
Lotta Wennäkoski, commissioned for him by the Finnish Radio Symphony. The
album was the winner of the 2023 Gramophone Award in the "contemporary"
category.
Aside from his activity as a soloist, Mr Magen is an avid chamber musician and has
appeared at the Marlboro, Aspen, Rosendal, Kuhmo, Rauma, Rusk, Delft, Staunton,
Stift, Giverny and Jerusalem International Chamber Music festivals, the Celeveland
and Ottawa Chamberfests, with Musicians from Marlboro, and collaborated with
artists such as Tabea Zimmermann, Antje Weithaas, Nobuko Imai, Shmuel
Ashkenazi, Gary Hoffman, Emmanuel Pahud, Susanna Phillips, the Danel, Pacifica,
Ariel, Calder, New Helsinki and Dover quartets and members of the Guarneri and
Juilliard Quartets.
He is a founding member of trio Tre Voci with flutist Marina Piccinini and violist
Kim Kashkashian, with whom he has toured extensively in Europe and the US, and
has released to great critical acclaim a CD for ECM of music by Debussy,
Gubaidulina and Takemitsu. They are constantly working to expand the flute-viola-
harp repertoire by commissioning arrangements and original pieces - their 2018
program included a new commission of a trio by Toshio Hosokawa which had its
European premiere at London's Wigmore Hall.
Since January 2008 Mr Magen is also a founding member of the Israeli Chamber
Project, a group which performs in both outreach venues and major concert halls
interntationally, including the the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the
Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Town Hall, Merkin
Hall, Symphony Space, the Morgan Library and Bargemusic in New York City, The
Budapest Music Center and the Israeli Conservatory in Tel Aviv. The ICP is the
winner of the 2011 Israeli Ministry of Culture Outstanding Ensemble Award. The last
season, which is was their 18th season, included extended tours across the US,
Canada, Japan and Israel.
In addition to his position in Berlin, Mr Magen teaches at the Musica Mundi School in
Belgium, and was until recently a guest professor at the Academy for Music and
Theater in Tallinn, Estonia. Between 2013-2017 he was a faculty member of the
Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, and in spring 2017 he was an invited
professor at the Paris Conservatory. He regularly presents masterclasses in schools
such as The Juilliard School, The Curtis Institute, The Peabody Institute, The New
England Conservatory, the Paris Conservatory, London’s Royal Academy, Royal
College, Guildhall School and Trinity College, as well as the summer Academy in
Nice, the Kuhmo Festival Academy in Finland, and the Aspen Music Festival. In
addition, he has been invited to serve as member of the jury of the International Harp
Contest in Israel, the USA International Harp Competition, the Netherlands
International Harp Competition, the Lyon & Healy Awards and the Vera Dulova
International Harp Competition in Moscow, and served as Head of the Jury of the
National Harp Contest in Taiwan and the international harp contest is Szeged,
Hungary.
Born in Jerusalem, Sivan Magen studied the piano with Benjamin Oren and Talma
Cohen and the harp with Irena Kaganovsky-Kessler at the Jerusalem Academy for
Music and Dance. After completing his military service as an "Outstanding Musician"
in 2001, he continued his studies with Germaine Lorenzini in France and then joined
Isabelle Moretti’s harp class at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP) from which he
graduated with a “Premier Prix”. He has then completed a Master of Music degree as
a student of Nancy Allen at the Juilliard School in New York.