RODAN, MENDI

RODAN, MENDI (1929– ), Israeli conductor. Born in Romania, he studied the violin and conducting with Silvestri at the Bucharest Academy of Music (1945–7), then took a degree at the Arts Institute there (1947–9). He made his début when he conducted the Romanian Radio Orchestra in 1953. He immigrated to Israel in 1961. He has often conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and appeared in many countries abroad. From 1963 to 1972, Rodan was chief conductor of the Israeli Broadcasting Orchestra presenting new Israeli works. In 1965 he founded the Jerusalem Chamber Orchestra   and, as its permanent conductor until 1969, toured with it in Europe, East Asia, Australia, South Africa, and the United States. In 1962 he began to teach at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where he became pedagogic director (1973), and from 1984 to 1993 the head of the academy. From 1977 he took over the musical directorship of the Beersheba orchestra and served as chief conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra in Brussels (1983–89). Between 1993 and 1997, he was also co-conductor of the Israeli PO. Rodan was guest conductor of major orchestras, including Suisse-Romande Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Radio Television Orchestra, Bergen Festival Orchestra, and Berlin Symphony Orchestra. He appeared with soloists such as rubinstein , barenboim , Rampal, perlman , and du Prè and received the Musician of the Year award from the Israeli Ministry of Education and Culture (1997). He made a series of recordings with the Jerusalem Chamber Orchestra, including a collaboration with the harpsichordist frank pelleg of music by Bach and his sons. In 2006 he won the Israel Prize. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Grove Music Online. (Israela Stein (2nd ed.)