Karni has appeared as soloist, chamber musician and teacher worldwide. He has performed at many of the world’s great festivals, including the Newport Music Festival, the Rolandseck Chamber Music Festival, the Dubrovnik Festival, Båstad (Sweden) and Lapland Festivals, Davos Music Festival, Aspen and Bellingham. Gilad won First Prize in the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, and Third Prize at the ARD Munich International Music Competition. In 1992, Gilad joined the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and was its youngest member. He was a founding member of the Huberman Quartet and performed as a guest violist with the Jerusalem Quartet and world-famous pianist Menachem Pressler at the Concertgebouw and with clarinetist Paul Meyer in Paris. Karni is currently Principal Violist of the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich, as well as Professor for Viola at Lucerne Academy and Professor for Viola & Chamber Music at Claudius University in Switzerland. He was Principal Violist at the Deutsche Opera in Berlin and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.