Gisele Ben-Dor
Conductor Laureate of the Santa Barbara Symphony and Conductor Emerita of the Boston Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra
Gisele Ben-Dor born in Uruguay and immigrated to Israel in 1973. Ben-Dor’s primary instrument is piano which is began studying at the age of 4 at the J.S. Bach Conservatory. At only 12 years old she began studying conducting and by the time she was 14 became the music director for her school. Her higher level education includes the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel Aviv University and the Yale School of Music. Ben-Dor’s main teachers include S. Ronley Riklis, Avner Itai, and Mendi Rodan.
After she graduated from Yale she made her professional conducting debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. From then on her career skyrocketed. She is currently the conductor Laureate of the Santa Barbara Symphony and Conductor Emerita of the Boston Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra but has worked with many other orchestra’s. These orchestra’s include Houston Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Helsinki Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, New World Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Israel Chamber Orchestra, New Israeli Opera, and Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.