Cellist Michal Beck wins Paul Ben Haim Competition

Beck, who currently serves in the IDF as a musician, beats 7 runners-up in final stage and 23 instrumentalists and singers in entire competition.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Michal Beck 311 (photo credit: .)
Michal Beck 311
(photo credit: .)
Jerusalem-based cellist Michal Beck won first prize in the Paul BenHaim Competition of Israeli music on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv.
Beck, who currently serves in the IDF as a musician, beat sevenrunners-up in the final stage and 23 instrumentalists and singers whotook part in the entire, three-stage competition.
Clarinetist Ido Azrad won second prize, soprano Gan-Ya Ben-Gur Axelrodwon third prize and Hilla Ofek, harp, won the honorary prize forperformance of a piece by Ben Haim in the competition, devoted toexcellence in the performance of Israeli concert music.
Beck, 18, was the youngest of the 23 participants. She is a studentof Hillel Zori, head of the String Department at the Buchman-MehtaSchool of Music in Tel Aviv.
The biannual competition is sponsored by the Culture and SportsMinistry, Musical Youth for the Performance of Israeli Music and theIsraeli Broadcast Authority’s classical music radio station, The Voiceof Music.