Arie Vardi
Encyclopedia
Arie Vardi is an Israeli classical pianist and piano pedagogue
.
He is currently teaching at the Buhmann-Mehta Academy of Music in Tel Aviv
, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover
and at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine
. His students include many of today's leading concert artists, such as Yefim Bronfman
; and more than 30 of them have won grand prizes at major international piano competitions, including Yundi Li, First Prize winner at the 14th International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
His recordings of the music of Claude Debussy
and Maurice Ravel
have won many prizes and critical acclaim.
. He then studied with Paul Baumgartner
, Pierre Boulez
and Karlheinz Stockhausen
.
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. He went on to become professor of piano at the Rubin academy.
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.
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 für Musik und Theatre in Hannover and at the Buhmann-Mehta 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 Beethoven, China, Chopin, Cleveland, Gina Bachauer
, Hamamatsu, Leeds, Milan, Munich, Santander, Shanghai, Sydney, Tchaikovsky, Tokyo, and others. He is the Artistic Advisor and Chairman of the Jury of the Arthur Rubinstein International Master Competition.
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, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, 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.
Vardi was the recipient of the Minister of Education Award in 2004 for lifetime achievement.
Piano pedagogy
Piano pedagogy is the study of the teaching of piano playing. Whereas the professional field of music education pertains to the teaching of music in school classrooms or group settings, piano pedagogy focuses on the teaching of musical skills to piano students on the level of the individual...
.
He is currently teaching at the Buhmann-Mehta Academy of Music in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
and at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine
Brunswick, Maine
Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 20,278 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, , and the...
. His students include many of today's leading concert artists, such as Yefim Bronfman
Yefim Bronfman
Yefim "Fima" Naumovich Bronfman is a Soviet-born Israeli-American pianist.-Biography:He was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, and emigrated to Israel at the age of 15...
; and more than 30 of them have won grand prizes at major international piano competitions, including Yundi Li, First Prize winner at the 14th International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
His recordings of the music of Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
and Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
have won many prizes and critical acclaim.
Biography
Vardi began his musical career at the age of fifteen. He won the George Enescu International Competition in BucharestBucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
. He then studied with Paul Baumgartner
Paul Baumgartner
Paul Baumgartner was a Swiss pianist.Born in Altstätten, Switzerland, he studied piano and composition with Walter Braunfels in the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and with Eduard Erdmann in Köln where he subsequently taught...
, Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
and Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
.
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
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
, 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. He went on to become professor of piano at the Rubin academy.
Vardi continued his piano studies in Basel with Paul Baumgartaner and studied composition with Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
and Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
. He has performed widely as soloist with major orchestras under the baton of Semion Bychkov, Sergio Commissiona, Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss was a German-born American composer, conductor, and pianist.-Music career:He was born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922. His father was the philosopher and scholar Martin Fuchs...
, Kurt Masur
Kurt Masur
Kurt Masur is a German conductor, particularly noted for his interpretation of German Romantic music.- Biography :Masur was born in Brieg, Lower Silesia, Germany and studied piano, composition and conducting in Leipzig, Saxony. Masur has been married three times...
, Jerzy Maksymiuk
Jerzy Maksymiuk
Jerzy Maksymiuk is a Polish orchestra conductor.Maksymiuk studied violin, piano, conducting and composition at the Warsaw Conservatory. In 1964 he won first prize in the Paderewski Piano Composition. Conducting soon became his principal career...
, Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
, Paul Paray
Paul Paray
Paul Paray was a French conductor, organist and composer. He is best remembered in the United States for being the resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for more than a decade. He married Yolande Falck on 25 August 1944.-Biography:Paray's father, Auguste, was a sculptor and organist...
, Paul Sacher
Paul Sacher
Paul Sacher was a Swiss conductor, patron and impresario.-Biography:He studied under Felix Weingartner, among others. In 1926 he founded the Basel Chamber Orchestra to play works written before the classical period and modern works...
and David Zinman
David Zinman
David Zinman is an American conductor and violinist.After early violin studies at the Oberlin Conservatory, Zinman studied theory and composition at the University of Minnesota and took up conducting at Tanglewood...
, 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.
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 für Musik und Theatre in Hannover and at the Buhmann-Mehta 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 Beethoven, China, Chopin, Cleveland, Gina Bachauer
Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition
The Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition is based in Salt Lake City, Utah and is the second largest piano competition in the United States....
, Hamamatsu, Leeds, Milan, Munich, Santander, Shanghai, Sydney, Tchaikovsky, Tokyo, and others. He is the Artistic Advisor and Chairman of the Jury of the Arthur Rubinstein International Master Competition.
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, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, 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.
Vardi was the recipient of the Minister of Education Award in 2004 for lifetime achievement.
External links
- Official site
- "Israeli Pianist Arie Vardi Visits Juilliard" by Elizabeth Morgan (from the May 2002 Juilliard Journal Online)