Dror Biran, Piano

Biography

Dror Biran is one of Israel’s most admired and gifted pianists. His playing has been described in Die Beeld as “powerful, but also beautifully sensitive”. The Plain Dealer added “his fortissimos crashed and roared, but next to them came pianissimos that whispered seductively…he has technique to burn and uses it effectively…”   His superb tonal control combined with interesting phrasing and voicing has won him consistent critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences.

Born in Israel, Mr. Biran is a top prize winner of several national and international piano competitions. He is a graduate of the Givataim Conservatory where he studied with Mrs. Lili Dorfman and of the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel-Aviv University where he studied with Prof. Arie Vardi. He won top prizes at the M.K Ciurlionis International Piano Competition (1995), and the Cleveland International Piano Competition (1997) where he also received a special prize for the best performance of works by Chopin. Other honors include first prize at the “Pilar Bayona International Piano Competition” in Zaragoza, Spain (1998), and the Rafi Goralnik prize for pianists, in the Aviv Competition 2000.  He has been a recipient of multiple scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation for distinguished musicians.

Mr. Biran has performed widely as a soloist with major orchestras including the Lithuanian Philharmonic, the Louisville Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orchestra of Spain, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic. He has played under the batons of Etinger, Rodan, Gueller, Gacia Asensio, Lane and others. His concert tours have taken him to Eastern and Western Europe, Israel and South Africa.

As a chamber musician Mr. Biran has appeared on a regular basis with different music ensembles such as the Carmel and Aviv String Quartets, and with members of the Cleveland Orchestra. His concerts have been broadcast by WCLV, WQXR, WUOL, The Voice of Music – Israel, and Classic FM South Africa, among others. He can be heard on the JMC (Jerusalem Music Centre) labels featuring ballades by Brahms and Chopin.

Mr. Biran received his Doctoral degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Mr. Paul Schenly and Dr. Daniel Shapiro. He taught at Youngstown State University and Case Western Reserve University.  Currently, he holds a piano professor position at the University of Louisville’s School of Music. His future engagements include chamber and solo concerts in the United States, Europe and Israel.