Misha Vitenson, violinist, began his violin studies with his father, Yuri Vitenson, in his native city of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In 1990, Mr. Vitenson immigrated to Israel and continued his studies with Chaim Taub. His prizes and awards in Israel include annual America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarships and the prestigious Braun Zingel Award, which he won in a competition held at the Rubin Music Academy in Jerusalem.

In 1996, Mr. Vitenson began studying with Sergiu Schwartz at the Harid Conservatory. Subsequently, he was awarded top prizes in international violin competitions, including “Premio Paganini” (Italy, 1998) and Pablo de Sarasate (Spain, 1997) and First Prize in the 1998 Citta d’Andria International Violin Competition (Italy).

Mr. Vitenson is the winner of the 1999 Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition and First Prizewinner at the 2000 National Society of Arts and Letters Violin Competition. He is also both a two-timer winner of the Harid Conservatory Concerto Competition and a two-time recipient of the Harid Conservatory’s Joseph Gingold Award for Excellence (1998 and 2000).

Mr. Vitenson’s recent engagements have included appearances as a soloist with all major orchestras in Israel, including the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, and the Israel Chamber Orchestra; the Padova e Venetto Orchestra on tour in Brazil, the National Uzbekistan Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival Symphonia Orchestra, the Harid Philharmonia and the Harid Chamber Strings. Mr. Vitenson has participated in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout Israel, the United States, Canada, South America, and Europe. As a member of the Kinneret Piano Trio, Mr. Vitenson was invited to participate in the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall in 1995.

After receiving his Bachelor degree from Harid Conservatory School of Music at Lynn University, Misha Vitenson was a student of Joel Smirnoff at the Julliard School, where he received a Master of Music Degree. There he appeared as a soloist with the Julliard Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall under the baton of Hugh Wolff.

In the fall of 2002, Mr. Vitenson joined the Amernet String Quartet and the faculty at Northern Kentucky University as an Artist-in-Residence, teaching both violin and chamber music. Currently, he is Artist-in-Residence at Florida International University.