On February 16, 2026, the Azrieli Fellows Program convened its alumni community at East-TLV for an evening focused on leadership, listening, and shared responsibility. Nearly 100 alumni attended, representing participants from the program’s early years through to its most recent intake.
The programme opened with a video message from Naomi Azrieli, Chair of the Azrieli Foundation, who reflected on the fellowship’s core values and spoke about alumni’s role as stewards of the programme. Her remarks framed the evening not only as a reunion, but as a moment to consider how the community continues to carry the Foundation’s vision forward across sectors and disciplines.
The keynote lecture was delivered by Itay Talgam, an orchestral conductor known for applying the principles of conducting to leadership in government, academia, business, education, and therapeutic settings. In an interactive session on the leadership styles of great conductors, Talgam invited the audience to observe how authority and presence are expressed differently from the podium. Through musical excerpts and direct engagement with the audience, he demonstrated how conductors create coherence not by control alone, but by enabling others to perform at their best. The question implicit throughout the lecture was: what kind of leader are you when you step onto your own podium?
The interactive component of the evening continued with a team-based quiz led by Quala. The questions ranged from general knowledge to topics related to the Azrieli Fellows Program, combining friendly competition with shared reflection on the program’s history and milestones. Alumni from different tracks and cohorts collaborated, reinforcing both institutional memory and new connections.
The evening concluded with dinner and informal conversation. In the spirit of both Naomi Azrieli’s message and Itay Talgam’s lecture, the reunion highlighted a central idea: a strong community, like a strong orchestra, depends on individuals who lead with attentiveness, responsibility, and a commitment to collective harmony.
