IMG Artists Signs Conductor Bar Avni

Avni, winner of the Paris’s 2024 La Maestra Competition, has signed with IMG Artists for general management 

The Israeli conductor Bar Avni has now joined the roster of IMG Artists for General Management; she will be represented by Artist Manager Isabelle Cottet, with Kathryn Enticott, Director of Enticott Music Management, consulting.

Avni’s recent first-prize win at the 2024 La Maestra Competition also saw her receive the competition’s Orchestra Prize, Arte Prize, Echo Award, and the Prize of the French Concert Halls and Orchestras. In 2021, she became Chief Conductor of the Bayer Philharmoniker — the first female conductor to hold this position in the orchestra’s 120-year history. 

Since her conducting debut in 2016, Avni has worked with the Israel Philharmonic, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Resonanz, Sinfonia Varsovia, and Hamburg Camerata. Earlier this year, Avni made her debuts with the WDR Funkhaus Orchestra and the Gothenburg Symphony as an assistant to the Canadian conductor Barbara Hannigan.

In the coming seasons, Avni has been invited to conduct the Orchestre National de Lille and the Orchestre National de Bordeaux, Hamburg State Youth Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Kammerorchester Basel, and in an assistantship with Klaus Mäkelä with Orchestre de Paris.

Avni first trained as a classical percussionist. Her desire to conduct took her to Tel Aviv where she studied with Yoav Talmi — she later became assistant conductor of the Israel Chamber Orchestra. Her other mentors have included Martin Sieghart and Ulrich Windfuhr. 

Additionally, in the 2017/18 season, Avni was assistant to General Music Director Peter Kuhn, at the Bergischer Symphoniker, and in 2021, she became the youngest prize-winner and Scholarship holder of the International Kurt Masur Institute.

“As I continue my journey in the extraordinary world of music making, I recognize the importance of finding the right partners to illuminate the path ahead,” Avni said in the press release. “I wish to thank my former manager, Martin Müller, for our time together. I am thrilled and fortunate to announce my new partnership with Isabelle Cottet as my manager, with consultation from Kathryn Enticott. It is truly exhilarating to connect with such dedicated professionals who share my vision for music in this vibrant and exciting industry.”

“I was struck by Bar Avni’s musical and leadership skills from the first moment I saw her conduct; I am both privileged and thrilled to be working with her,” Cottet added. “I could not be happier to embark on this new journey with Bar alongside the team at IMG Artists and Kathryn Enticott.”

“I really look forward to working with Bar and with Isabelle as a consultant in an advisory capacity,” Enticott expressed. “I am extremely impressed by Bar, both as a conductor and as an exceptionally creative programmer. I know she will go far.”