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Orli Shaham

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A consummate musician recognized for her grace, subtlety and brilliance, Orli Shaham has established an impressive international reputation as one of today’s most gifted pianists, in demand for her prodigious skills and admired for her interpretations of both standard and modern repertoire. The New York Times called her a “brilliant pianist” and The Chicago Tribune referred to her as “a first – rate Mozartean .” She has performed with most of the major orchestras in the United States and with many ensembles across five continents, given recitals on stages from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House and appeared at music festivals around the world.

Ms. Shaham’s 2024 – 2025 concert season include s performances of concertos written for her by David Robertson with Utah Symphony and by Steven Mackey at Tanglewood and the Beethoven Triple Concerto with her brother, violinist Gil Shaham. Chamber recitals across the country include Dumbarton Oaks, Music at Menlo, La Jolla, and more.

Recent performance highlights include Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? by John Adams with the Finnish Radio Symphony; Beethoven’s “Triple” Concerto with Pacific Symphony; a German tour with Brandenburg State Orchestra and festival appearances at Sun Valley, Chautauqua, Bowdoin and Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival.

Ms. Shaham is the Artistic Director, host and featured performer for Pacific Symphony’s chamber series Café Ludwig in California, a position she has held since 2007, and was Artist in Residence at Vancouver Symphony (USA) in 2022 – 2024.

In 2024, she released the final volumes of the complete piano sonatas by Mozart. The entire sonata cycle, along with her recording of Mozart’s Piano Concertos K.453 and K.491 with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, received high critical acclaim.

Ms. Shaham’s discography includes her acclaimed solo album, Brahms Inspired and her performance of John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music with the pianist Marc-André Hamelin and the San Francisco Symphony, with the composer conducting. In 2014, she released American Grace, featuring Steven Mackey’s Stumble to Grace with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Her discography includes over a dozen tit les on Deutsche Gramophone, Sony, Canary Classics and other labels.

Orli Shaham is on the piano and chamber music faculty at The Juilliard School and served on the juries of both the Cliburn and Honens International Piano Competitions. She is a major presence on public radio coast to coast as Co-Host and Creative for NPR’s From the Top and was host of America’s Music Festivals and Dial-a-Musician, a radio feature series she created. She is regularly featured on the popular music education platform Tonebase, including a 22-part series of performances and tutorials of music by Karen Tanaka. Her Tonebase presentations also include masterclasses on Mozart’s piano sonatas and a lecture-performance about Clara Schumann.

Shaham is Artistic Director of th e interactive children’s concert series Bach Yard, which she founded in 2010, and she is chair of the Board of Trustees of Kaufman Music Center. In addition to her musical education at The Juilliard School, she holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Columbia University and pursued a master’s degree in musicology from Columbia. She is winner of the Gilmore Young Artist Award and the Avery Fisher Career Grant .

Orli Shaham is a Steinway Artist.

August 2024. Please discard previously dated materials and contact email hidden; JavaScript is required before making any alterations or cuts.

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Press Quotes

"Ms. Shaham offered a daringly forceful interpretation of the [Brahms] F minor Sonata. Where the music so much as hinted that power would be welcome, Ms. Shaham supplied it amply, with sharply articulated phrasing as a bonus... she was at her best when Brahms turned up the heat, and as big as her sound was in the scherzo and the finale, Ms. Shaham kept it trim and fully focused."

The New York Times

"She showed herself to be a first-rate Mozartean, combining a crisp keyboard touch with an uncommonly nuanced approach to tone and phrase. Her solos proved consistently well-crafted and engaging, her accompanying passages a sparkling counterpoint to the orchestral statements."

Chicago Tribune

"Her playing across the board is warm and intelligent, shading the music with a range of emotions and creating some very special moments."

Colorado Public Radio

"Her playing blends confidence with reflective grace, digital wizardry with subtlety of touch. Shaham tied everything into convincing packages by sustaining lines and making sure the sonorities were as clear as crystal."

Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Shaham not only exudes her deep understanding of and feeling for the music, but also radiates a contagious joy in performing it..."

GetClassical

"...Shaham played first the Brahms, then Dorman's rousing and thought-provoking nth-degree response as if they were one piece. In a seemingly miraculous collapsing of the centuries, the two composer-pianists seemed to inhabit the same sublime circle of intimate, intricate creativity. Shaham conjured an achingly pure tone from the piano that made Brahms' woeful passion and Dorman's arch twisters and stormy interlude all the more expressive."

Blogcritics

"... a demonstrative artist, boldly imparting her deepest sentiments with courage, flair and vulnerability."

Omaha World Herald
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