Headshot of Pianist Orli Shaham

Orli Shaham

Piano

2022 Guest Artist

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. Hailed by critics on four continents, Ms. Shaham is 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,” The Chicago Tribune referred to her as “a first-rate Mozartean” in a performance with the Chicago Symphony, and London’s Guardian said Ms. Shaham’s playing at the Proms was “perfection.”

Orli Shaham has performed with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, and Philadelphia Symphony Orchestras; and internationally with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orchestre National de France among many others.

Highlights of Ms. Shaham’s upcoming 2019-20 season include performances with the Rochester Philharmonic (David Danzmayr conducting), National Philharmonic (Piotr Gajewski conducting), and Marin Symphony (Alasdair Neale conducting), and a chamber recital at Chamber Music Fort Worth. She continues to serve as the Artistic Director for Pacific Symphony’s chamber music series in Costa Mesa, California, a position she has held since 2007. She is a featured performer on each of the chamber recitals throughout the series.

In the fall of 2019, Orli Shaham releases a recording on the Canary Classics label of Mozart’s Piano Concertos K.453 and K.491 with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, David Robertson conducting. The recording is the first of a multi-year, multi-disc Mozart project for Ms. Shaham. Her other recordings include “Brahms Inspired” and “American Grace” (Canary Classics). Orli Shaham and her brother, the violinist Gil Shaham, have collaborated on several recordings including “Nigunim – Hebrew Melodies”, “Dvorák for Two” on Deutsche Gramophone, an all-Prokofiev disc, and “Mozart in Paris” featuring Mozart’s Six Sonatas, Op. 1.

Ms. Shaham is Artistic Director for the interactive children’s concert series, Orli Shaham’s Bach Yard (formerly Baby Got Bach), which she founded in 2010. The concert programs provide hands-on activities with musical instruments, concepts and concert performances that promote good listening skills, and feature chamber music performances by professional musicians with Ms. Shaham as host and pianist. Bach Yard shows are presented in New York, Princeton and Rochester in 2019-2020.

In 2018 and 2019, Orli Shaham guest hosts NPR’s From the Top, a radio program featuring young classically-trained musicians, broadcast by hundreds of stations around the country. In addition to her activities on stage, Ms. Shaham is on faculty at The Juilliard School, and has served on the jury of numerous piano competitions, including the Cliburn International Junior, New York International, Sydney International, Virginia Waring International and Hilton Head International piano competitions.