Itamar Zorman

Itamar Zorman is one of the most soulful, evocative artists of his generation, distinguished by his emotionally gripping performances and gift for musical storytelling. Since his emergence with the top prize at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition, he has enthralled audiences all over the world with breathtaking style, causing one critic to declare him a “young badass who’s not afraid of anything.” His youthful intensity and achingly beautiful sound shine through in every performance, earning him the title of the “virtuoso of emotions”.

This year’s highlights have included a return to Wigmore Hall — an immediate recital re-engagement after his debut in Fall 2021 — and performances with Mitsuko Uchida and others at the Borletti-Buitoni Trust 20th Anniversary Weekend, also at Wigmore. He played the world premiere of Enjott Schneider’s The Birds Violin Concerto at the Kronberg Academy Festival with Bridges Chamber Orchestra and conductor Harish Shankar. In addition, he performed with the Kammerphilharmonic Graubünden and Philippe Bach, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Guy Feder, and Oxford Philharmonic and Daniel Raiskin.

In recent seasons, Itamar Zorman made his Atlanta Symphony debut performing the Berg Violin Concerto with Karina Canellakis conducting, being hailed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for “passionate playing … an exceptional violinist.” He has performed with Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony, David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony, the IRIS Orchestra and Michael Stern, and the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Orchestra, among others.

He has given recitals at Carnegie Hall in the ‘Distinctive Debuts’ series, the Louvre Recital Series in Paris, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Muziekgebouw Frits Philips in Eindhoven, the HR-Sendesaal Frankfurt and the Kolarac Hall in Belgrade, and at festivals including Marlboro, Classical Tahoe, Chamberfest Cleveland, Kronberg Academy, Rheingau, and the Copenhagen Summer Festival. In the US, recital and chamber music appearances have taken him around the country to New York, Washington DC, Dallas, New Orleans, Tallahassee, Hudson Valley, Brattleboro, Laguna Woods, and on tours with the Lysander Trio and Israeli Chamber Project. He created a fascinating Music of the Spheres program, including works by Bach, Phillip Glass, Missy Mazzoli, and Eugene Ysaye, paired with stunning visuals at the planetarium of the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. In addition to his collaborations with Mitsuko Uchida, other legendary artists with whom he has performed include Richard Goode (including performances at Carnegie Hall and Library of Congress), Steven Isserlis, and Jörg Widmann.

His latest recording, Violin Odyssey, released in June 2022 on the First Hand Records label, explores lesser-known works for violin from all over the world, including works by such neglected and diverse composers as Grażyna Bacewicz, Dora Pejacevic, Ali Osman, Gareth Farr, William Grant Still and Erwin Schulhoff. The Arts Fuse writes, “Throughout this adventuresome journey, Itamar Zorman … plays with total command and subtle variety.” He previously released Evocation, an album of Paul Ben-Haim’s works for violin and orchestra, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Philippe Bach, on BIS Records to great critical acclaim. Portrait, his first solo recording, features works by Messiaen, Schubert, Chausson, Hindemith, and Brahms and was released by Profil – Editions Günther Hänssler.

In addition to winning the top prize at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition, he is also the recipient of a 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a 2014 Borletti-Buitoni Trust award. Other successes include first prize at the 2010 International Violin Competition of Freiburg and at the 2011 Juilliard Berg Concerto Competition.

Described as a “poet of the violin” and a “violin whisperer”, Itamar Zorman is also a committed chamber player. He is a founding member of the Israeli Chamber Project and a member of the Lysander Piano Trio, with which he won the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Grand Prize in the 2011 Coleman Chamber Music Competition, first prize in the 2011 Arriaga Competition, and a bronze medal in the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

Born in Tel-Aviv in 1985 to a family of musicians, Itamar Zorman began his violin studies at the age of six with Sally Bockel at the Israeli Conservatory of Music in Tel-Aviv. He graduated in 2003 and continued his studies with Professor David Chen and Nava Milo. He received his Bachelor of Music from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance as a student of Hagai Shaham, and his Master of Music from The Juilliard School in 2009, where he studied with Robert Mann and Sylvia Rosenberg. He then went on to receive an Artist Diploma from Manhattan School of Music in 2010 and an Artist Diploma from Julliard in 2012 under the tutelage of Sylvia Rosenberg, and he is an alumnus of the Kronberg Academy where he studied with Christian Tetzlaff and Mauricio Fuks. He is also the recipient of scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and has taken part in numerous master classes around the world, working with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Shlomo Mintz, Ida Haendel, and Ivry Gitlis.

He plays on a 1734 Guarneri del Gesù violin from the collection of Yehuda Zisapel.