Alon Goldstein, Piano

Biography

Alon Goldstein is a pianist with a powerful gift for communication and his artistry has touched audiences and critics alike throughout the United States, Europe, and Israel.  He  has been hailed for his original and compelling recitals in major music centers here and abroad and for performances as soloist with such major North American orchestras as those of Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver, among others.  In 2008, he was enthusiastically received when he was heard with Hebert Blomstedt and the Israel Philharmonic in Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1, the same concerto he played the year before in his return engagement with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Admired for his musical intelligence and warmth of personality, Alon's artistic vision and innovative programming have brought him to the forefront of his generation.  His commitment to the music of young Israeli composers has resulted in the commission of a piano concerto from Avner Dorman whose works will be performed by the New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony, among others. In the 2008-2009 season, Alon will perform at Carnegie Hall in the Mozart Triple Concerto alongside Joseph Kalichstein and Shai Wosner as well as a recital at Town Hall and a return engagement to the 92nd Street Y with the Tokyo String Quartet. His recent Beethoven concerto cycle with the Rockford Symphony, which expanded the traditional concert experience to a multi-media presentation contextualizing Beethoven's life and work, resulted in unprecedented attendance and subsequent subscriptions. He will return this season for a Schumann / Brahms festival of three concerts with diverse programs of solo chamber and concerto repertoire.

In addition to his concerts with the Israel Philharmonic, the 2007-2008 season included debut performances with the North Carolina Symphony under the baton of Music Director Grant Llewellyn, and IRIS Orchestra with Michael Stern conducting, and return engagements with the Fairfax Symphony, the Radio Orchestra of Bulgaria, and the Bucharest Philharmonic 'George Enescu' Orchestra.  An ardent chamber musician, Alon enjoyed collaborations with Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson at the 92nd Street Y in New York, in trio performances with cellist Amit Peled and violinist Ilya Kaler and in recital with Mr. Peled and with clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein.  Alon made his Cincinnati recital debut at Xavier University, continued longstanding relationships with the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, and the Bell Series in Jackson, MS as well as a collaboration with Rob Kapilow in a "What Makes it Great" program featuring Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21, the "Waldstein," for Friends of Chamber Music, Kansas City, MO.

Alon Goldstein has played with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra under the batons of Maestro Zubin Mehta and Yoel Levi as well as with all other major Israeli orchestras.  He has performed in major cities throughout the U.S. and Europe including recitals in New York, Washington DC, Baltimore, Chicago, St. Paul, St. Louis and Houston.  He has also played on such prestigious series as Ravinia's Rising Stars, the Klavier Festival in Rühr, Germany, the Purcell Room in London, and has been heard on WQXR in New York and BBC Radio 3 in the UK. 

Recent seasons also featured performances in this country and abroad with Philadelphia Orchestra Associate Conductor and Mann Music Center Director Rossen Milanov, and debuts with the Delaware, Santa Barbara, and Quad City Symphonies.  Internationally, he has performed with the Orchestre National d'Ile de France in Paris, the "George Enescu" Philharmonic in Bucharest, the National Radio orchestra of Bulgaria, and the Orchestra Siciliana in Palermo, Italy. He has played under such conductors as Raphael Frühbeck de Burgos, Leon Fleisher, Peter Oundjian, and Klaus Peter Flor.

Mr. Goldstein has appeared at the Gilmore, Santa Fe, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Marlboro, Seattle, and Steamboat (Colorado) festivals in the US as well as Prussia Cove (England) and the Verbier (Switzerland) Festival. He performed at the Hollywood Bowl as well as at the recently opened Millennium Park in Chicago with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. Over the past several years he has also taught and played at the "Tel Hai" International piano master classes held in Israel.

After a residency in London, Goldstein spent two seasons as "Artist-in-Residence" at the Theo Lieven International Piano Foundation in Lake Como Italy.  In this inspiring environment, as one of only eight promising young pianists in residence from around the world, he was able to enjoy private master-classes with world-renowned musicians.

A graduate of the Tel-Aviv academy as well as the Peabody conservatory in Baltimore, where he studied with the legendary Leon Fleisher, Alon is the winner of numerous competitions, among them the Arianne Katcz Piano Competition in Tel Aviv, Nena Wideman Competition in the US and the Francois Shapira competition in Israel.  He received the America Israeli Cultural Foundation scholarships for 10 years. He is also the recipient of the 2004 Salon di Virtuosi Career Grant.  In 2003, the Phillips Collection in Washington DC released their first CD - a live recording of his recital there. The summer 2005 saw the release of two recordings:  one a solo recital program through the Jerusalem Music Center "Mishkenot Sha'ananim" and the other through the Israeli Music Institute featuring works by Israeli composers.