Sophie Solomon, the Oxford University-educated violinist who helped make klezmer cool in the UK, is to be the new director of the Jewish Music Institute.
A founder member of Jewish roots band Oi Va Voi, Ms Solomon, 32, will succeed Geraldine Auerbach, who steps down next year as founding director after 28 years.
Mrs Auerbach said: "We could not have dreamed up a more excellent person to take the position. We are very lucky."
After Oi Va Oi, Ms Solomon pursued a solo career which has ranged from performing klezmer with the London Symphony Orchestra to a recent appearance at Paul Weller's birthday concert at the Royal Albert Hall. She composed the music for the play Our Class on Poles and the Holocaust at the National Theatre and also scored a documentary on the jailed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
