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 increasingly made him a favorite among audiences
and critics alike.
In the 2008-2009 season Mr. Wosner
appears in recitals throughout the US and Europe,
including London's Wigmore Hall, the Musée
d'Orsay in Paris and The 92nd Street Y in New York.
Recent and upcoming orchestral engagements include
his critically-acclaimed debut with The Cleveland
Orchestra, his return to the Atlanta and Houston
symphonies, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia,
the Fresno Philharmonic, the Indianapolis and North
Carolina symphonies. He also continues his extensive
performing and recording activity as a BBC New Generation
Artist, which he was named in September 2007. His
residency this season, to be broadcast throughout
the BBC Radio 3 network, encompasses recital, chamber-music
and concerto repertoire, as well as directing two
Mozart concerti from the keyboard.
In 2005, Wosner won an Avery Fisher
Career Grant. In the same year, he received a Borletti-Buitoni
Trust Award, which led to the joint commission (by
the Trust and The 92nd Street Y) of Michael Hersch's
Chamber Concerto for Piano and 13 Players. Based
on poetry by Zbigniew Herbert, the work will be
premiered in New York at The 92nd St. Y during the
2009-2010 season.
In recent seasons, Wosner has appeared
with numerous major orchestras in North America
and Europe, including re-engagements with The Los
Angeles Philharmonic at The Hollywood Bowl, the
National Arts Centre Orchestra and performances
with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the symphony orchestras
of Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas,
Milwaukee, Columbus and Memphis; the Saint Paul
Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia; Staatskapelle
Berlin, the Gothenburg Symphony, the Barcelona Symphony,
the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and Orchestre National
de Belgique, among others. In 2006 he debuted with
the Vienna Philharmonic during the 250th anniversary
celebrations of Mozart's birth, in Salzburg. He
has worked with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim,
Zubin Mehta, Leonard Slatkin, Donald Runnicles,
Hans Graf, Alan Gilbert, Peter Oundjian, James Conlon,
James Judd and Yan Pascal Tortelier.
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, Cho-Liang Lin and Christian
Tetzlaff. From 2002-2004, he was a member of Lincoln's
Center's Chamber Music Society Two. He regularly
performs at various chamber music festivals, including
Chamber Music Northwest in Portland and La Jolla's
SummerFest. Other summer festival appearances include
the Ravinia Festival, Hollywood Bowl, Mostly Mozart,
Grand Teton Music Festival, and Bravo! Vail Valley
Music Festival. His many chamber music engagements
in the 2008-2009 season include a performance with
members of The New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher
Hall. Other collaborations this season include 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. 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.
