“Although Ram […] presents himself as deliberately casual in his shiny silver sneakers, his conducting is the opposite: energetic, spontaneous, yet clear, precise, and attentive to detail.” - Leipziger Volkszeitung
Israeli-American conductor Ilya Ram, praised for his “charismatic and energetic performances” (Crescendo Magazine) and “expressive spontaneity” (Diapason), is internationally recognized for his creative and engaging approach to classical music.
A prizewinner of the 5th Evgeny Svetlanov Competition in Monte Carlo, Ram is the Music Director of the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, where he has launched an ambitious three-year artistic arc that explores Reflection, Moments, and Destiny - a journey connecting the past, present, and future of orchestral storytelling. His tenure is marked by innovative programming, cross-genre collaborations, and partnerships with local artists and community organizations that expand the orchestra’s cultural reach.
Recent and upcoming highlights include performances with the Szczecin Filharmonia, Orquestra do Algarve, Orchestra Indiana, Deutsche Philharmonie Merck, Magdeburg Philharmoniker, Ensemble Tempus Konnex, Elbland Philharmonie Sachsen, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Ra’anana Sinfonietta, and the Robert-Schumann Philharmonic. He returns for the third time to the IMPULS Festival for Contemporary Music. Among the many soloists he has collaborated with are Pekka Kuusisto, Kristīne Balanas, Amandine Savary, Ilian Garnetz, Ildikó Szabó, Liv Redpath, Ying Li, and Charlotte Thiele.
Equally at home in the pit and on the concert stage, Ram made his Semperoper Dresden debut with the world premiere of Zad Moultaka’s Drei Miese, fiese Kerle and previously served as Guest Resident Conductor at Theater Chemnitz, leading productions including Zimmermann’s Weiße Rose and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. As a scholarship holder of the Akademie Musiktheater Heute (Deutsche Bank Stiftung), he premiered three new operas with Ensemble Modern during the 2024/25 season.
A strong believer that the highest artistic results are achieved through joy, curiosity, and creative rehearsal strategies, Ram has worked extensively with young ensembles, including the German National Youth Ballet, Youth North German Philharmonic, and the Dresden Special Music High School.
Committed to artistic innovation, Ram is among the few conductors to have completed the Music.Multimedia.Management project led by the Szczecin Philharmonic in collaboration with Fjord Cadenza Festival and TRAFO Center for Contemporary Art. He has participated in numerous international masterclasses, including the first-ever conducting masterclass at the Bayreuth Festival, and has studied with Christian Thielemann, Klaus Mäkelä, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Sakari Oramo, Neeme Järvi, Marek Janowski, Hartmut Haenchen, Robert Treviño, Steven Sloane, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Timothy Redmond, Nicolás Pasquet, Johannes Schlaefli, and Jorma Panula.
Ram graduated cum laude from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv and earned his master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the Hochschule für Musik “Carl Maria von Weber” Dresden, later completing the Advanced Professional Training for Conductors at the UdK Berlin. His studies were supported by scholarships from the Yotzrim Foundation, America-Israel Cultural Foundation, and the DAAD.
Before beginning his formal studies, Ram volunteered for a year in underprivileged communities in Israel, working with children both in and outside the education system. He later continued his social engagement through the Israeli branch of Physicians for Human Rights.
(October 2025)
