Israeli-American conductor Gisele Ben Dor receives a special award from the Carnegie Corporation – to mark her contribution to American society.
Photo by Robert Yavitz
An impressive achievement for the Israeli-American conductor Gisele Ben Dor. On the occasion of American Independence Day, the Carnegie Corporation announced the groundbreaking winner Gisele Ben Dor as the winner of the prestigious award “Great Immigrants, Great Americans”.
This award highlights the many ways in which immigrants enrich the American cultural world, strengthen American democracy and bring about social improvement through their work and the example of life they provide.
The Carnegie Corporation of New York, founded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote knowledge and understanding, operates one of the largest and most influential foundations in the world of support. Each year, on July 4, the Carnegie Corporation marks the contribution of immigrants to American life through a special award.
Photo by Henry Fair
This year, sharing the award to 34 US citizens who emigrated from the country and strengthened the US activities. The winners came from 30 different countries and strengthened the American society in various fields including medicine, research, law, politics, the environment, education and of course – culture.
Alongside Ben-Dor Contains a list of distinguished winners of influential immigrants including CEO Pfizer, Google’s interactive design director, winners of the Pulitzer Prizes, Noble, Witch and Berg, as well as celebrities such as Helen Mirren and John Oliver.
The Carnegie Corporation website said of Gisele Ben-Dor:
As a 3-year-old girl in Uruguay, Gisele Ben-Dor began asking her parents to buy her a piano. By the age of 12 she had already led an ensemble she formed with a group of friends in Montevideo. Being Music Director of The Boston Chamber Orchestra Pro-Arte was a role she was chosen for by the musicians themselves after being the orchestra’s musical director for a decade. She was also named Conductor Laureate of the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra. She has performed as a guest conductor with major orchestras around the world including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.
Ben Dor was born into a family of Polish immigrants. She studied piano and taught herself guitar. After graduating from high school, she moved from Uruguay to Israel and then to the US. Ben- Dor was called “a ferocious talent “by the Los Angeles Times. She is a champion of music by Latin American composers.
“Being a woman conductor may not seem normal to the outside world, but for me it’s completely normal”.
Please click here to see the announcement on the Carnegie Corporation website.