Itay Talgam is an Israeli conductor and business consultant. He started out as a pianist, but switched to conducting after his military service in the Israel Defense Forces. Talgam debuted as an international conductor in 1987, when he was chosen by Leonard Bernstein to appear in a special concert with Orchestre de Paris. Since then, he has conducted many orchestras in Europe. He was the first Israeli conductor to perform with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Leipzig Opera. He has worked with most of the major orchestras in Israel. Itay Talgam gives seminars and workshops on the operations of the symphony orchestra, which he sees as a metaphor for organizational behavior and a model for inspired leadership.