Arie
Vardi Visits Juilliard
Publicity Photos
Biography
Discography
Beginning
his artistic career at the age of fifteen, Israeli born Arie Vardi went on to receive
international acclaim as one of the country’s foremost pianists. After winning the
Chopin Competition in
Israel,
he appeared with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Zubin Mehta, and upon winning the
George Enescu International Competition in
Bucharest,
he played numerous concerts throughout
Europe.
Alongside his study of music at the
Rubin
Academy,
he succeeded in achieving a degree in law at
Tel
Aviv
University.
Vardi
continued his piano studies in
Basel
with Paul Baumgartaner and studied composition with Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz
Stockhausen. He has performed widely as soloist with major orchestras under the baton of
Semion Bychkov, Sergio Commissiona, Lukas Foss, Kurt Masur, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Zubin Mehta,
Paul Paray, Paul Sacher and David Zinman, among others. His concert tours have taken him
to Eastern and
Western
Europe,
the
United
States,
Latin
America,
the
Far
East,
Australia
and
Japan.
His first Russian tour, in 1992, included performances in
Moscow,
St.
Petersburg
and other cities. Vardi performs regularly as soloist-conductor, playing the complete set
of concerti by Bach and Mozart, part of which he has played on the Hammerfluegel. In
recent years he has specialized in the literature of the Impressionist period, including
the entire repertoire of Debussy and Ravel. His RCA records have won international acclaim
and prizes.
Mr.
Vardi’s extensive repertoire includes various Israeli works, many of which were
dedicated to him. In addition to his concert career, Arie Vardi is a professor of piano at
the Hochschule fuer Musik in
Hannover
and at the Rubin Academy of Music,
Tel
Aviv
University,
where he served as its director and chaired the Piano Faculty. More than 30 of his
students have won first prizes in international competitions. Arie Vardi is best known to
television viewers for his series “Master Classes”, the family series of the
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra which he conducts and presents, and currently for his new
series “Intermezzo with Arik”.
He
has been a Jury member in most of the leading international piano competitions, such as
Beijing,
Cleveland,
Hamamatsu,
Leeds,
Milan,
Moscow,
Munich,
Salt
Lake City,
Santander,
Sydney,
Tokyo,
Vienna,
Warsaw,
and others. He is the Artistic Advisor and Chairman of the Jury of the Arthur Rubinstein
International Master Competition.
Mr.
Vardi has held Master Classes and presented lecture recitals at the Juilliard School of
Music, the Paris Conservatoire, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the
London
Royal
Academy,
and many other major music centers.
In
the 2001 season, Arie Vardi directed, conducted and played a series of five concerts with
the Israel Chamber Orchestra. The series, entitled “The Piano Concerto,”
featured twelve concertos ranging from Bach to the 21st century. In the 2004-5
season he launched a new weekend series with the Israel Philharmonic, “Morning
Intermezzo”, where he serves as conductor and presenter.
Mr.
Vardi was the recipient of the Minister of Education Award in 2004 for lifetime
achievement.
Sample
Recording
Mozart: Piano
Concerto in A Major, K. 414
Arie Vardi, pianist & conductor
The Israel Chamber Orchestra
Excerpt from 1st
Movement
Other Photos:
Related sites:
www.aviramreichert.com
