Avner Arad (Piano)

Born: Israel

The Israeli pianist, Avner Arad, received the Sharett Scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation; then was a pupil of Barry Snyder at the Eastman School of Music. He graduated from the Curtis Institute as a pupil of Seymour Lipkin, and received his Master’s degree from the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, where he studied with the late Rudolf Firkušný and Emanuel Ax. Arad was a participant in the Steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival in 1994 and 1995 and has returned each subsequent summer as a collaborating pianist in the program. He was a recipient of Carnegie Hall’s 1998 Distinctive Debuts Award.

Avner Arad performed J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) for his New York recital debut as winner of the Koussevitzky Memorial Competition, made his Lincoln Center debut with the Juilliard Orchestra, and embarked on his first European tour as winner of the Young Keyboard Artists International Piano Competition. He twice won the Juilliard’s Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition.

Avner Arad has performed throughout North America and Europe as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Performance highlights have included engagements at the Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Kölner Philharmonie, Brussels’ Palais des Beaux-Arts, the Kennedy Center, 92^nd Street Y, Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, as well as festival appearances at Ravinia and Schleswig-Holstein.

His critically acclaimed recordings include the complete waltzes by Chopin and an all-Schumann CD on MSR Classics label, the complete piano works of Janáček on Helicon Records, and Bloch’s complete works for violin and piano with Latica Honda-Rosenberg for OehmsClassics.

Source: MSR Classics Website; Classical Connect Website
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (November 2010)

Avner Arad: Short Biography | Recordings of Instrumental Works

Links to other Sites

Avner Arad, Piano - Biography (Classical Connect)