29/07/2026
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ฏ๐๐ฟ๐ด๐ต
24.07.2026
Elias Faingersh has spent a lifetime proving that, sometimes, the biggest leap of faith is walking away from everything you have worked towards.
The Swedish trombonist, composer and performer had reached a point that many musicians only dream of โperforming at New Yorkโs Metropolitan Opera โ after earning a scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music.
But he realised he was living somebody elseโs dream rather than his own.
And now, more than three decades later, his life-changing decision has become the inspiration behind his award-winning one-man show SOLO From the Pit.
Elias is taking the show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it will be performed from August 7-29 (7.05pm) at Venue 38 โ Studio .
โI worked really hard to be as good as I could be just to get on to the substitute list at the Met, to get accepted into the Manhattan School of Music and to get a full scholarship,โ he told me from his home in Malmรถ. โThere was really, really hard work involved.
โAnd then you suddenly realise that everything you have been working for is not really your thing.
โWhen you are in your early 20s and you realise that, it is a kind of a shocking thing.โ
He had arrived in New York in the 1990s after years of intensive musical training, eventually earning the opportunity to play with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as a substitute trombonist.
But despite the prestige, something was missing.
Elias said: โI didnโt like the job itself. To play two or three notes in half an hour and just sit in the pit โ I didnโt like it.
โI couldnโt see myself sitting there for 40 years just to have a comfortable life. I really wanted to create music and do my own stuff.โ
Instead of accepting the security that so many musicians crave, Elias made a dramatic decision to return to Sweden.
There, he began composing music for theatre productions before becoming a performer himself.
The 58-year-old recalled: โI was writing music for theatre shows and then I started acting, as well.
โIt just took off from there and I have been doing my own projects ever since.โ
That defining chapter now forms the backbone of SOLO From The Pit. Each chapter of his life is paired with music from famous operas, but viewed through an unexpectedly comic lens.
Elias said: โI tell the audience I was madly in love with a girl from Germany, but it didnโt work out and then say that while I was at the Met we were playing Madame Butterfly, which is an opera about people who donโt speak the same language.
โI do a very stand-up comedy version of that. It is operas in my own way combined with my personal life.โ
Although rooted in classical music, Elias said audiences do not need to know their Verdi from their Puccini.
โIt is built on musical stand-up comedy,โ he added. โThere is lots of music from the operas I played, but I perform it in my own style.โ
And that distinctive style has earned him performances across Europe, North America, Australia and Israel, along with glowing reviews describing him as โThe Golden Trombone of Europeโ and a โmusical magicianโ.
But his own journey began thousands of miles away in Moscow, where he was born before emigrating with his family to Sweden.
His parents received permission to leave the Soviet Union at the beginning of the 1980s and they moved to Malmรถ, where his fatherโs uncle was living.
Raised as a Jewish child in the Soviet Union left a lasting impression as Jewish life was there โ but communities could not practise their religion freely in a country where atheism and communism ruled.
Elias recalled: โIf you did Jewish things, whether it was keeping traditions, Shabbat or anything like that, you would definitely be contacted by the KGB.
โThey would ask questions and follow you, so you knew the risks.
โI had a Jewish friend and we went to synagogue together.
โWe stayed there for Shabbat sometimes and became pretty active as youngsters.
โWe knew we were outlaws, but that was also romantic in a strange way.โ
Ironically, despite that youthful commitment, he only celebrated his barmitzvah this year, alongside his teenage son.
Elias explained: โMy second son had his barmitzvah in March and the whole family said, โThis is your chance, dad. You can have yours tooโ.
โI read the haftorah and technically had my barmitzvah on the same day as my son.
โIn the Soviet Union, doing something like that would definitely have caused problems, so it was very special.โ
Music had entered Eliasโ life even earlier. Like many talented children in the Soviet system, he was identified while still in kindergarten.
โThey came to test all the children,โ Elias added. โOut of the whole kindergarten only two of us were accepted into this very hardcore music school.
โThe Soviet Union invested heavily in music, ballet, sport and science, so there were specialised schools for talented children.โ
Despite headlines portraying Malmรถ โ which has a heavy Muslim population โ as one of Europeโs most difficult cities for Jews, his experience has been more nuanced.
Elias said: โMy family is very active in Jewish life. My wife works with Jewish cultural projects and we have also been heavily involved in the local Jewish film festival.โ
While Elias acknowledged that there are problems, he has not encountered antisemitism.
His work has also brought him into contact with students from across the Middle East.
โI taught at Malmรถ Conservatory and I had five Palestinian students,โ Elias continued.
โOn the first day I introduced myself and said, โIโm Jewishโ.
โDuring the coffee break I asked them, โDo you want this class to be a platform for political discussions or do you want to learn music?โ.
โThey all said, โmusic, of courseโ and we never talked about politics again. We had a beautiful relationship.โ
Elias also performs regularly in Israel and was there when conflict erupted in February.
Elias recalled: โI was supposed to be touring there, but I played one concert and then the war began. I ended up in the shelters and all my concerts were cancelled.
โI am glad I saw it with my own eyes. People outside only see television, but when you are actually there you realise life is more structured than it appears.
โOf course, thereโs trauma and terrible suffering, but reality is often more complicated than what people see on television.โ
Now his attention turns to Edinburgh, where he will perform at the Fringe for the first time after years of international touring.
Elias said: โI was always afraid of Edinburgh. It costs a lot of money and you have no idea whether youโll get it back.
โI have a family and children, so it isnโt an easy decision.
โI was performing in Catania in Sicily and someone from The Space venue saw the show. He asked me if Iโd ever thought about Edinburgh and so here I am.โ
Alongside hopes of attracting Fringe audiences, Elias has another ambition.
He said: โI really hope Jewish people come, as well. Apart from the artistic side, I really think Jews should meet each other and see each other, especially now.โ
Tinyurl.com/EliasSOLO
