"At the core of my work is a deep engagement with the score. I seek to understand not only what the composer wrote, but why, how structure, harmony, rhythm, orchestration, and gesture serve an expressive and communicative purpose. From this understanding, I bring the emotional essence of the music to the orchestra and the audience."
Oren Gross Thaler is an Israeli conductor based in Europe, working with orchestras across Israel and the continent. He has conducted ensembles including the Magdeburg and Regensburg Philharmonic Orchestras, Festival Strings Lucerne, leading Israeli orchestras, and is currently Music Director of the Bnei HaKibbutzim Orchestra, Israel’s oldest youth orchestra rooted in the Kibbutz movement.
Born and raised in Tel Aviv, he studied classical saxophone before turning to conducting at an early age. Shaped by his close artistic work with composer and conductor Noam Sheriff, and further training at the Aspen, Lucerne, and Tanglewood Festivals as well as the University of the Arts Berlin, Gross Thaler combines deep score study with a strong communicative presence on the podium.
Gross Thaler was chosen by Noam Sheriff to conduct the world premiere of his musical piece “Lenny”, which was written in honor of Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birth centennial. The piece was commissioned by Regensburg Philharmonic Orchestra, and was given among other compositions of Bernstein in a subscriber's concert:
“And whoever didn’t believe a 21-year-old rookie would be able to control the big symphonic machine were harshly wrong. The young thin man blossomed from the first bar by full usage of his body language in the music of Bernstein.”
“Conducted with passion and big gestures.”
“The powerful, always demanding conducting drew everyone's attention.”
“The very fact that he conducted the entire program from memory showed all the professionalism and passion he put into the concert.”
"The Philharmonic Orchestra was blooming under this enormous challenge, developing a joyful playing through all its sections, and giving Bernstein's music that pinch of lightness, which captivates and simply inspires.”
Andreas Meixner, “Mittelbayerische Zeitung”
“Despite his young age, he proves to be a savvy orchestra leader, who always keeps the intricate rhythms in Bernstein's scores under control.
“The evening worked out wonderfully, and the Philharmonic Orchestra became ecstatic from Bernstein's rhythmically electrifying sounds.”
Gerhard Dietel, “das Orchester”
“Oren has a tremendous talent, he was born with the dust of the stars. I have seen all of these features already when he was a teenager. I predicted his future capabilities and I am sure that he will be a very big conductor and without a doubt will break into the international consciousness at some point.
— What does he have that others don’t have?
He is a performer.
He plays saxophone virtuosically.
When he was conducting in Germany, where he received international exposure, his success was phenomenal, and this was the proof that he “has it”.
He conducted a perfect concert. Oren is a very dramatic conductor, spicy and accurate. With great talent, he manages to understand a piece in depth, its rhythms and meters”.
Noam Sheriff, “Yedioth Aharonoth”
A First Prize winner of the Israel Conservatory Competition. Gross Thaler performed as a soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra as well as with other orchestras in Israel and Europe.
He received scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, Thelma Yellin High School of Arts, Polonsky Foundation, and the Perles Foundation.