Biography
The musicality of young Israeli pianist Ofra Yitzhaki can be best described with the following words: simply beautiful, breath-taking, sensual, poetic and deeply emotional.
Born in Israel, Ofra Yitzhaki began her studies in Tel Aviv under Dr. Noa Blass. She then studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and received a Vladimir Horowitz Scholarship to study at the Juilliard School in New York. In 2006 Yitzhaki earned her doctoral degree on the theme of Israeli piano music in historical perspective. To this day, works of contemporary Israeli composers are a focal point of her musical work – both as a pianist and as a lecturer. Yitzhaki has made guest appearances on all the major stages in the concert world – including New York, Berlin, Frankfurt, Chicago, San Francisco, Seoul, Taipei, Bucharest and Montreal.
Yitzhaki is a sought-after interpreter of modern and contemporary music. In an open-air concert under the auspices of the New York Museum of Modern Art, she wowed the audience with 20th century works for piano, including Hindemith and Messiaen. Early in her career she won several renowned solo competitions (the Van Cliburn Institute or Carnegie Hall Millennium Piano Book-Competition), as well as numerous important scholarships. In 2008 she was on the jury of the Aviv Competition, Israel's most important competition for young musicians. Yitzhaki’s recording of Bach's works for piano was released by Yamaha International in the “New York Rising Star” series. Her recording of chamber music by American composer Joshua Rosenblum was released in 2008 by Albany Records.