About iPalpiti: History

Dedicated to the artistic career advancement of exceptionally gifted young professional musicians and to the promotion of peace and understanding through music.

HISTORY

With the blessing and support of the late Lord Yehudi Menuhin — after years of collaboration, friendship, and conversations about the future of classical music with Eduard and Laura Schmieder — Young Artists International was born in 1997.

In 2008, we became iPalpiti Artists International. From the beginning, our mission has been to discover and support post-conservatory musicians, whose talents were destined to make them the leading classical musicians of their generation. Sometimes referred to as a “Musical Peace Corps,” iPalpiti has created an international network of classical artists, forging lifetime associations that transcend the conflicts of our time. Our mission attracted the attention of a group of the world’s leading classical musicians, who joined as Artistic Advisors, with the Great Dame of the Violin Ida Haendel, CBE as Honorary President. With their support and keen ear for talent, we have been able to promote the most exceptional young professional musicians from around the globe.

Our program grew from a six-artist festival in 1998 into an annual production of international significance, centered on the iPalpiti Orchestral Ensemble of International Laureates with Maestro Eduard Schmieder as conductor. In addition to the iPalpiti Festival of International Laureates at our home base in Los Angeles, iPalpiti has been an invited ensemble-in-residence in Japan, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Korea, Austria, Slovenia, and Israel, performing to sold-out audiences in venues from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam to Carnegie Hall in New York.

Since 1998, iPalpiti Artists International has: • Presented awards and scholarships to 388 outstanding young musicians in 49 countries. • Presented more than 500 private and public concerts promoting young exceptional artists nationwide, including international tours. • Presented annual “Benefactors Concert Series” throughout the years in private estates. • Released 25 CDs of iPalpiti Orchestra & Soloists in live performances. • Created the Mentor Program and Student Coalition for the Arts for 7-12th graders to nurture the growth of interests, personal confidence and building a future audience. • Released three short documentaries about iPalpiti and its Festival.

In 2007, iPalpiti celebrated its 10th anniversary with a New York Carnegie Hall debut to a rave review in the New York Times. Now a bi-coastal presence in the US, iPalpiti is an ensemble-in-residence at Temple University in Philadelphia, with “iPalpiti Musicales” has been presented in New York at the home of Susan & Charles Avery Fisher since 2007. In 2009, iPalpiti expanded its festival to the East Coast, with performances in Philadelphia (Kimmel Center), a finale concert at Carnegie Hall, and returned to the East Coast in 2011.

iPalpiti’s Festivals have been featured in publications such as the STRAD magazine (1999, 2004, 2013), Strings magazine (1998, 2004) and the Los Angeles Times (1998, 2003, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017), calling the Festival’s performances “world-class” and “take-your-breath-away demonstrations of musicianship and technique.”

iPalpiti Artists International is a non-profit, humanitarian organization that stands on the belief that “music is the spiritual factor which brings people together and unites them irrespective of religion and culture, appealing to sublime senses.”

What a phenomenal ensemble! Thank you again for one of the most enjoyable evenings we’ve ever had listening in classical music and once again reiterate how incredible the orchestra was last night. We still can’t get over how your orchestra sounds like “one big soloist.” … extraordinary performance. — Karen Benjamin [noted soprano] & Alan Chapman [host KUSC-FM, pre-concert lecturer at LA Phil] Year after year you give us a gift of the best concert in town. Impeccable Dvorak! — Dennis Bade [LA Phil program writer, musicologist] What a magnificent concert last night at Disney Hall; truly remarkable. You are without doubt one of the most gifted musicians I have ever encountered in my life. And one of the few conductors in the world who understands how to elicit character from the musicians’ performance. In short, I was blown away. — Derek Gleeson [conductor & music director of Dublin Philharmonic] “After this concert one wants to live again”– Let this gratitude enter the flow of gratitude coming to you from myriad of hearts, and sustain you in continuity of the noble task you and Eduard have taken upon yourself. Congratulations to you and your extraordinary musicians on the success of the festival. Listening Mahler I received answers to my questions. How right Eduard is: music helps to pray without words. Impressions overcame all expectations. — Galina Stolina, Journalist, Almanac Panorama It was so magical and fantastic. The energy and passion was tremendous. We gave many standing ovations to the musicians. Thank you so much — MaryJane Mitchell I am on the Expo Line back home after an evening of amazing music at the Walt Disney Concert. I am enamored by iPalpiti. Thank you for the opportunity of this once-a-year experience. — Nora O’Connor Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to see and hear the great iPalpiti Orchestra perform. The maestro was truly mesmerizing not only for us but for the rows upon rows of his enthralled audience who were standing, waving and cheering so deafeningly. Again, thank you so much. — George, Clark and Katya You have to check out this [iPalpiti] concert. I have been there 3 years in the row and it is by far the best classical music I have ever heard. — Goldstar Audience …captivated…the program was extremely rich in content, touching on a whole series of memories/ emotions, with the acute execution of iPalpiti once again proving the brilliance of this ensemble concept. The (nearly?) uniquely exposing acoustic of Disney Hall revealed the results -- the myriad sound spaces a string ensemble can achieve. Magnificent! — Mark Evans, Delos Records/OWN TV Words fail to say how much we enjoyed that excellent concert! Everything about the evening was just perfect. The music was a real revelation—composers and pieces you thought you knew in a completely fresh and unexpected light. The joy and camaraderie of the musicians was truly infectious. — Donald G. M.(Pres., Downey Symphonic Society) It was a magical night. The program was marvelous - each piece was a delight. Our only complaint was that the time went so fast! Please congratulate from us Maestro Schmieder for the painstaking research he did for the Beethoven etc. And that is before one considers the exquisite playing of the orchestra members, with their usual precision and musicality. We love them all. I think this was the finest of all the iPalpiti finales that we have attended. — Irene W