Yfrah Neaman

Who was Yfrah Neaman?

Yfrah Neaman OBE was a violinist and an eminent pedagogue.

He was born in Sidon, Lebanon to Jewish parents from Palestine. He studied in Paris with Jaques Thibaud, and then settled in London where he continued his studies with Carl Flesch and Max Rostal.

He taught at the Guildhall School of Music and was artistic director of the Carl Flesch Competition. Among his students were Krzysztof Smietana, David Takeno, Masayuki Kino, Wolfgang David, Simon Fischer, Norman Foxwell, Vanya Milanova, Eugene Sarbu, Takashi Shimizu, Valantine Stephanov, Paul de Kayser, Sherban Loupu, Sung-Sic Yang, Gennady Filimonov, Mark Knight, Mihai Craioveanu, and Radoslaw Szulc. His students Mincho Minchev, Xue Wei, and Masayuki Kino, were all first prizewinners of the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition.

He gave the first performances in Britain of the violin concertos of Walter Piston and Roberto Gerhard.

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1983.

He died at age 79 in London, England.

He was married to Dr Gillian Shaw and has a daughter and a son.