Biography

Michal Oren is an award winning conductor and a clarinettist from Tel-Aviv, Israel. Michal's work combines classical music with visual arts exhibits and presents a new approach in the 21st century's cultural creation.

Michal was awarded distinction for her two Bachelors of Music in orchestral conducting and clarinet performance from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at the Tel Aviv University, Israel. She is currently pursuing a Master of Performance in Orchestral Conducting at the Royal College of Music in London. As a Victor and Lilian Hochhauser Scholar with a full scholarship, she is studying under the conductors Toby Purser, Peter Stark, and Howard Williams. Among Michal's teachers are the conductors Yi-An Xu, Doron Salomon, Dr Dale Lonis, and the IPO principal clarinettist Yevgeny Yehudin.

In September 2023, Michal won the 1st prize in the 4th International Academy and Competition of Orchestra Conducting in Estoril, Portugal, and will return as guest conductor to the Cascais & Oeiras Chamber Orchestra in the next season. Previously, she won the 1st prize in the conducting competition of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music with the Haifa Symphony Orchestrain in Israel. She is also a current Residence Music Scholar of the Robert Anderson Trust, and since 2015, a scholar of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

As part of her modern approach, Michal initiated a museum chamber orchestra together with the Petah Tikva Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel. The orchestra performs a repertoire that offers a musical interpretation (musical curation) of visual arts exhibits. Since its establishment, the orchestra performed a series of concerts that correspond to various exhibitions across Israel, supported by numerous private and public donors.

Michal’s guest conducting appearances include the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Street Orchestra, Hertford Symphony Orchestra, Central London Orchestra, Salomon Orchestra, Berlin Sinfonietta, Pazardjik Symphony Orchestra and more. In addition, Michal was the conductor and musical director of the Israeli Flutes Ensemble for two seasons (2020-2022). During her time as musical director, Michal established together with the Isreal Music Institue a new Israeli composition competition for the Flutes Ensemble.

Michal will share a concert with Maestro Martyn Brabbins at the Salomon Orchestra’s 60th anniversary concert on October 14, 2023, where she will conduct Paul Ben-Haim’s 1st symphony.

Michal is currently studying for her Master of Performance in orchestral conducting at the Royal College of Music in London with a full scholarship. She was awarded distinction for her two Bachelors of Music in orchestral conducting and clarinet performance from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at the Tel Aviv University.

Michal won 1st prizes in the 4th International Academy of Orchestra Conducting in Estoril and the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music conducting competition. She is a Victor and Lilian Hochhauser Scholar, Residence Music Scholar of the Robert Anderson Trust, and since 2015, scholar of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Michal is also the founder and musical curator of the “Museum Orchestra” of the Petach-Tikva Museum of Art in Israel. She has performed as a guest conductor with various orchestras in Israel and Europe.