Arie Vardi

Vardi was born in Tel Aviv[1] and graduated from the Rubin Academy (renamed the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in 2005) and earned a law degree at Tel Aviv University.[1] He obtained a soloist diploma from at City of Basel Music Academy. Among his music teachers were Paul Baumgartner (piano), Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen (composition).[1] He then went on to become professor of piano and head of department at the Rubin Academy, and later became the head of the school.[6]

Vardi launched his concert career at the age of fifteen as the winner of the Chopin Competition in Israel and the George Enescu International Competition in Bucharest.[1] He has appeared with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta, and has collaborated with other conductors such as Semion Bychkov, Sergio Commissiona, Gustavo Dudamel, Lukas Foss, Kurt Masur, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Paul Paray, David Robertson, Paul Sacher and David Zinman, among others. His concert tours have taken him to Europe, the United States, Latin America, the Far East and Australia. His first Russian tour, in 1992, included performances in Moscow, St. Petersburg and several 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 Hammerflügel. His extensive repertoire includes various Israeli works, many of which were dedicated to him. In the 2001 season, 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.[7] For television viewers he is best known for his series Master Classes, the family series of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra which he conducts and presents, and also currently for his new series Intermezzo with Arik.

Over 50 of his students have won first prizes at international competitions. Vardi’s students include concert artists Saleem Abud, Jonathan Aner, Nareh Arghamanyan, Astrit Balzan, Yossi Bim Nun, Dror Biran, Yefim Bronfman, Sa Chen, Ariel Cohen, Arnon Erez, Yeol Eum Son, Einat Fabricant, David Fung, Alexander Gavrilyiuk, Boris Giltburg, Eitan Globerson, Dorel Golan, Alon Goldstein, Daniel Gortler, Shlomo Gronich, Revital Hahamov, Chiho Han, Bishara Haruni, Martin Hehnche, Claire Huangci, Dong Hyuk Lim, Nikolay Khozyainov, Yusuke Kikuchi, Won Kim, Yaron Kolberg, Yanina Kudik, Krysztof Ksiazek, Lucas Kruponski, Milka Lachs, Colleen Lee, Tome Lev, Yundi Li, Hyosum Lim, Ke Ma, Albert Mamriev, Alexandra Mikulska, Joseph Moog, Dmitry Onishenko, Yuhi Ozaki, Jonghai Park, Francesco Piemoutesi, Tal Samnun, Sipione Sangiovanni, Tomoki Sakata, Shlomi Shaban, Lahav Shani, Gil Shohat, Dmitry Shishkin, Lori Sims, Da Sol Kim, Victor Stanislavski, Vladimir Sverdlov Ashkenazy, Michal Tal, Yaara Tal, Alexander Taverna, Rai Trachtman, Beatrice Rana, Aviram Reichert, Irit Rub, Xiaohan Wang, Yael Weiss, Orit Wolf, Emre Yarut, Yevgeni Yontov, Takashi Zato, Asaf Zohar, Ran Zemaeh and others.

He has been a Jury member in many major international competitions, namely the Beethoven (Bonn), Beethoven (Vienna), Busoni (Bolzano), China, Chopin (Warsaw), Cleveland (Ohio), Cliburn (Texas), Gina Bachauer (Salt Lake City), Hamamatsu (Japan), Leeds (England), Dino Ciani (Milan), ARD (Munich), Paloma O'Shea in Santander (Spain),[8] Scottish (Glasgow), Shenzhen (China), Shanghai, Sydney, Tchaikovsky (Moscow), Tokyo, Minneapolis and others. Vardi is currently the artistic advisor and chairman of the jury of the Arthur Rubinstein International Master Competition.[9]

Vardi has held master classes and presented lecture recitals at many of the world's top conservatories. His recordings of Mozart concertos have included the Concerto for Three Pianos with Yefim Bronfman and Radu Lupu. Vardi teaches at the Hochschule für Musik Hannover, Germany, and at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv.

His recordings have won critical acclaim. In 2004, the Minister of Education Award was bestowed upon him for his lifetime achievement. In 2017, Vardi was awarded the Israel Prize.[1][5]

• Media related to Arie Vardi at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website