Coming from a Jewish family, the young Israeli conductor and pianist Misha Shekhtman is one of the most promising musicians of his generation. His mother’s grandfather Moise Shekhtman was a cantor at a synagogue in Zhytomyr.
Misha graduated with distinction at Moscow State Conservatory as pianist and organist and studied conducting under Michail Jurowski and at the Berlin UDK.

As pianist, Misha performed under Herbert Blomstedt, Santtu-Matias Rouvali and James Gaffigan. He collaborates with orchestras including Gewandhaus Leipzig, Lucern Symphony, Seattle Symphony, National Orchestra of Spain, Seoul Philharmonic, Concerto Köln, St-Petersburg Philharmonic and festivals, including Lucern and Gstaad. Misha collaborates with soloists, including Anna Netrebko, Ambrogio Maestri, Ilya Gringolts, Vladislav Sulimsky, Yusif Eyvazov, LiLa, Daniil Trifonov, Vasilisa Berzhanksaya, Elene Gvritishvili, Alexander Malofeev and Valentine Michaud.

In 2020 Shekhtman founded festivalorchestra, bringing together musicians from Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Germany, South Korea and more. Recordings include a premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch, Mahler’s Symphony 7, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, Beethoven’s Symphony 7, Strawinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps to critical acclaim.

In September 2025, Misha Shekhtman won 1st prize at the Ferenz Fricsay International Conducting Competition. Upcoming engagements include performances with Bournemouth Symphony, Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Danish National Philharmonic, Bern Symphony/Bern Opera, Sofia Philharmonic, Nürnberg Symphony and Israel Philharmonic.

Shekhtman has accompanied prominent soloists both as conductor and pianist, including Anna Netrebko, Augustin Hadelich, Ilya Gringolts, Julia Lezhneva, Yusif Eyvazov, Maxim Vengerov, Valentine Michaud. He was assistant conductor to Daniel Harding and Sir Antonio Pappano at the Verbier Festival.
In 2021, Shekhtman founded festivalorchestra, bringing together musicians from Israel, Ukraine, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, South Korea and more. Their recordings of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 have been critically acclaimed. I
n 2023, festivalorchestra, under Shekhtman’s baton, recorded the world premiere of ‘Con moto’ by Bernd Richard Deutsch, published by Boosey & Hawkes[BH1] .
Among engagements this season Shekhtman leads Bamberger symphoniker - here is the review by one of the key members of the orchestra:
“Mr Shekhtman showed an
absolutely outstanding performance conducting my beloved orchestra. His insight into the unknown
dephths of Gustav Mahler's music,
his absolutely crystal clear way to present his ideas and thoughts on
how to perform it, his warm and heartfelt yet respectful way to interact with this giant orchestral organism and the human beings
forming it impressed me deeply”, Heiko Triebener