Pianist Shai Wosner has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity, and creative insight. His performances of a broad-range of repertoire from Beethoven and Mozart to Schoenberg and Ligeti, as well as music by his contemporaries, communicates his imaginative programming and his intellectual curiosity. Mr. Wosner’s virtuosity and perceptiveness have made him a favorite among audiences and critics, who have praised him for his “keen musical mind and deep musical soul” (NPR’s All Things Considered) and for exemplifying a “remarkable blend of the intellectual, physical and even devilish sides of performance” (Chicago Sun Times).
Mr. Wosner’s debut recording, released by Onyx in the fall of 2010, juxtaposes works by Brahms and Schoenberg and explores the inner connections between the musical languages of the two composers. The album was called “inventively conceived and impressive” by The New York Times. His second solo album featuring works by Schubert that incorporate elements of folk music will be released by Onyx in the fall of 2011.
Mr. Wosner’s upcoming engagements include concerto, recital and chamber music performances at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and recitals and chamber music concerts at the Oregon Bach Festival and Chamber Music Northwest Portland. He will also perform with violinist Jennifer Koh at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival. Highlights of his 2011-12 season include a duo recital with baritone Wolfgang Holzmair at the 92nd Street Y in New York, recitals in London's Wigmore Hall and LSO St. Luke's, and a return to the Baltimore Symphony. In May 2012, together with the Seattle Symphony conducted by Gerard Schwartz, he is scheduled to premiere "Along the Ravines", a new concerto by Michael Hersch written for him and commissioned by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust.
In the 2010-2011 season Mr. Wosner appeared with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He also performed solo recitals at Wigmore Hall (which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3), at Cardiff's Hoddinott Hall and at the Piano Aux Jacobins festival in France, duo recitals with clarinetist Martin Fröst, bass-baritone Dietrich Henschel, and violinist Jennifer Koh, and chamber music with the Miró Quartet for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.
Mr. Wosner recently made his highly acclaimed subscription debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was invited to return later that year to perform with the orchestra at Ravinia. He also recently performed with the Los Angeles Chamber orchestra from the keyboard, in a performance broadcast on American Public Radio. He has appeared with numerous major orchestras in North America, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. In Europe, he has appeared with the Staatskapelle Berlin, Gothenburg Symphony, Barcelona Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Orchestre National de Belgique and 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 worked with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Slatkin, Donald Runnicles, Alan Gilbert, Peter Oundjian, Gunther Herbig, James Conlon, Jir?í Be?lohlávek and James Judd.
Wosner is widely sought after by 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. 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. He has performed summer festivals including the Ravinia Festival, Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, and Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. For several consecutive summers, Wosner was involved in the West-Eastern Divan Workshop led by Daniel Barenboim and toured as soloist with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.
Mr. Wosner is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and 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. He also returned to the BBC Scottish Symphony in both subscription concerts and performances at the Proms with Donald Runnicles, and appeared with the BBC Philharmonic in a live broadcast from Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. His performances in recital, chamber music, and with orchestra continue to be broadcast on Radio 3.
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. Mr. Wosner now resides in New York City with his wife and daughter.
Last updated June 2011. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.
Video clip courtesy of BBC, New Generation Artists
