Born in Kibbutz Ein-Dor in 1961, Uzi Shalev studied bassoon with Sara Tzur, Walter Meroz, Zeev Dorman and Mordechai Rechtman. After completing his IDF service as an officer, he continued his studies at the Juilliard School in New York. Since 1987, he has been Assistant Principal Bassoon of the IPO, performing with various chamber ensembles and as a soloist. He has given the premieres of many Israeli works, some dedicated to him, including Aharon Harlap’s Bassoon Concerto (2005) with the IPO for which he was awarded the Partos Prize for Israeli Music. Among his numerous recordings for radio and CDs are his Telemann album (1993) which was awarded the Annual Award for Excellence by the Music Retailers’ Association, England, a CD of J.C. Bach’s bassoon works with the Cappella Istropolitana (1998), Yehezkel Braun’s complete works for bassoon, and Mozart’s four flute quartets, arranged for bassoon and string trio by Mordechai Rechtman.