A native of Israel, clarinetist Gilad Harel is an avid chamber music player, a new music promoter and an active klezmer/world music performer.

Gilad Harel is co-artistic director of Fountain Chamber Music Society, New York; and the clarinetist of the Fountain and the Proteus Ensembles. He was a guest performer with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, America's Dream Chamber Artists, the Zephyros Wind Ensemble, the Solstice Ensemble, and he is on the faculty at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in New Hampshire. His chamber music festival appearances include the Music From Salem Festival, NY; Craftsbury Chamber Players Festival, VT; Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, NH; Crested Butte Music Festival, CO; The Music Festival of the Hamptons; the Pensacola Chamber Music Festival, FL; and the Yellow Barn Chamber Music School and Festival, VT.

Gilad Harel has participated in premiere performances and recordings of works by Bruce Adolph, Jonathan Keren, Harold Farberman and Israel Sharon, and has collaborated with composers such as Tania Leon, Joshua Fineberg, Rand Steiger, Tristan Murail, George Edwards, Menachem Zur, Samuel Adler, Thomas Z. Shepard, Ofer Ben Amotz, and Steve Burke. Gilad is a member of the Manhattan Sinfonietta, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, Kaprizma Ensemble for new music, Jerusalem; and has played with the New York Art Ensemble, SEM Ensemble, Argento Ensemble, the Sospeso Ensemble, the New Millennium Ensemble and the Erick Hawkins Dance Company. Gilad’s new music festival appearances include the American Festival of Microtonal Music; the Lincoln Center Festival, and the Focus! Festival.

Gilad Harel is a member of the Sexteto Roberto Rodriguez, playing Cuban/Jewish music. They have recently performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and have released 2 new albums for the Tzadik recording label. Gilad is a founding member of Klezshop - a klezmer trio playing their own original compositions; and a frequent guest with the Metropolitan Klezmer Band. He has participated in maestro Giora Feidman’s Klezmer clarinet festival, and appeared at the Safed Klezmer Music Festival in Israel.

As an instructor, Gilad Harel is a substitute teacher at the Juilliard Pre-College Division, and faculty at the 92nd Street Y Music School, New York. He has given master classes at the Hamilton College, NY; the Southeastern Oklahoma State University, the Temple University of Texas and the Community College of West Palm Beach, Florida. He is on the faculty at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in NH, and was a guest faculty at the Putney-Vermont Chamber Music Intensive, and the Young Artist Program for outstanding musicians, Amherst College, Massachusetts. This summer, Gilad was invited to be on the faculty at the XI International Summer Course in Shropshire, England.

Gilad is a graduate of the Juilliard School, New York; the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris; and the Israeli Conservatory of Music, Tel-Aviv. He was a recipient of the America Israel Cultural Foundation scholarships for 10 years.