He was an accomplished violinist and conductor who built musical bridges between countries and rediscovered neglected works composed under oppressive circumstances.

Yuval Waldman has died in New York of heart disease after testing positive for COVID 19.

Waldman, who lived in Brooklyn, was the son of Jewish parents who survived purges in Ukraine during the Nazi occupation of World War Two.

He conducted the New American Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble formed in the 1990s and made up of Jewish emigres from the former Soviet Union.  In 2004 he founded Music Bridges International.

Yuval Waldman was 74