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SHAI WOSNER, PIANO

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Shai Wosner continues to attract international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity and creative insight. With imaginative programming that communicates his intellectual curiosity, Wosner performs a wide-ranging repertoire from Mozart and Beethoven to Ligeti and composers of his own generation. Hailed by the Financial Times as “an artist to follow keenly”, Wosner’s virtuosity and perceptiveness have made him a favorite among audiences and critics alike.


In the 2009-2010 season, Mr. Wosner made his highly acclaimed subscription debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conducted the Los Angeles Chamber orchestra from the keyboard, in a performance broadcast on National Public Radio. He returned to the BBC Scottish Symphony in both subscription concerts and performance at the Proms with Donald Runnicles and appeared with the BBC Philharmonic in a live broadcast from Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. He has also performed in solo recitals throughout the US as well as in duo recitals with Viviane Hagner (at the Kennedy Center), Christian Poltéra (at Wigmore Hall in London) and Jennifer Koh. Other recent highlights include his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra; his return to the Atlanta and Houston symphonies and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia; appearances with the North Carolina and Charlotte symphonies and the Sacramento Philharmonic; and solo recitals at the 92nd St. Y in New York, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and Wigmore Hall.


His 2010-2011 season includes subscription concerts with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the release of a solo recording of works by Brahms and Schoenberg on the Onyx label. Wosner will also appear in solo recitals broadcast live on Radio 3 from the Wigmore Hall and Cardiff’s Hoddinott Hall as well as at the Piano Aux Jacobins festival in France. His duo recitals include appearances with Martin Fröst (at Lincoln Center), Dietrich Henschel, and Jennifer Koh. Other recent and upcoming engagements include appearances at the Hay-on-Wye festival, the Stavanger Chamber Music Festival, the Cheltenham Festival, and the City of London Festival.


Wosner is the recipient of both an Avery Fisher Career Grant as well as a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, which led to the commission of Michael Hersch’s “Along the Ravines”, a concerto for piano and chamber orchestra. He recently completed a residency as a BBC New Generation Artist, during which he played frequently with the BBC orchestras, including appearances conducting Mozart concertos from the keyboard with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. His performances in recital, chamber music, and orchestral repertoire continue to be broadcast on Radio 3.


In recent seasons, he has appeared with numerous major orchestras in North America, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl; the National Arts Centre Orchestra; the Philadelphia Orchestra; the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; the Fresno Philharmonic; and the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Dallas, Milwaukee, Columbus and Memphis. In Europe, he has appeared with the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Gothenburg Symphony, the Barcelona Symphony, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Orchestre National de Belgique and the Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam, among others. In 2006, he debuted with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Salzburg, during the 250th anniversary celebrations of Mozart’s birth. He has work with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Slatkin, Donald Runnicles, Alan Gilbert, Peter Oundjian, Gunther Herbig, James Conlon, Ji_í B_lohlávek and James Judd.


Wosner is widely sought after by his colleagues for his versatility and spirit of partnership. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with numerous esteemed artists including Pinchas Zukerman, Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirshbaum, Christian Tetzlaff and Cho-Liang Lin. He is a former member of Lincoln’s Center’s Chamber Music Society Two and performs regularly at various chamber music festivals, including Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, among others. Other summer festival appearances include the Ravinia Festival, Hollywood Bowl, Mostly Mozart, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, and Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. Recent chamber music engagements include a performance with members of The New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall; a performance of the Mozart concerto for three pianos with Joseph Kalichstein and Alon Goldstein and the New York String Orchestra with Jaime Laredo at Carnegie Hall; and collaborations with the Tokyo, Miro and Parker string quartets, and the Georgian Chamber Players at Spivey Hall. For several consecutive summers, Wosner was also involved in the West-Eastern Divan Workshop led by Daniel Barenboim and toured as soloist with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Born in Israel, Mr. Wosner enjoyed a broad musical education from a very early age, studying piano with Emanuel Krasovsky as well as composition, theory and improvisation with André Hajdu. He later studied at The Juilliard School with Emanuel Ax.


Shai lives in New York City with his wife and daughter.



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