אל על | אטמוספירה

Check-in I Passport Control

What’s your favorite kind of vacation? “My favorite kind is staying in a big city where I can combine culture, friends, and shopping. These past years, I’ve become obsessed with outlet villages that are usually located on the outskirts of big cities, such as La Vallée Village which is about 40 minutes away from Paris. It’s a giant shopping center with dozens of top brand stores selling items at reduced prices”. What do you always pack with you? “Music scores that I study 24/7, cigars, my skincare products,my vitamins and a suit and tie just in case there’s a formal event I need to attend”. What’s the first thing you do when you arrive at your destination? “If it’s somewhere new I immediately go out to explore the surroundings. If it’s somewhere I know well, I go back to the same places I’ve been loyal to for years. In Rome for instance, there’s a café in front of the Vatican I’ve been going to for cappuccinos for thirty years. Rome is where I studied as a I young man. In Paris there’s a cheese shop next to the Madeleine I love returning to”. Most memorable travel experience? “Once, in New Delhi, India, minutes before I was supposed to go on stage for a solo piano recital, with the prime minister of India in the audience, I was told that my grand piano had been left at the entrance of the concert hall and completely disassembled. The Indian movers who had brought it had not realized they also had to put it together, and as if that wasn’t enough, a cow suddenly appeared and began licking it”. Any destination recommendations? “The Caribbean island of Saint-Barth is the ultimate luxury holiday destination. I apologize if it sounds a tad ‘elitist’ but it’s such a great place that offers the perfect blend of luxury pampering, wonderful weather, and the most beautiful mountain and ocean views”.

What does he pack in his suitcase, what happened to his grand piano in India, and where does he dream of going to? Pianist and conductor Gil Shohat shows us his passport / By Shani Altrovitch “The Caribbean island of Saint-Barth is the ultimate luxury holiday destination”

Gil Shohat, 50, lives with his partner and their eight-year-old twins. He’s been a pianist and a conductor for over 35 years, performed over 3,500 concerts across the world, and written 250 pieces, among which 9 symphonies, 15 concertos, and 3 operas. He’s produced hundreds of original shows that combine jazz, pop and world music. He has received 15 national and international awards, including the French title of Knight of Arts and Culture, and was chosen by Forbes magazine as well as by Israel’s leading newspapers, as Israel’s most important figure in the world of classical music.

Where do you dream of going? “On a real African safari. It’s my lifelong dream”.

14 ATMOSPHERE MAY 2024

Photo: Fabrice Bitton