Renana Gutman, Piano

Biography

Praised by the New York Sun for playing “with great vigor and aplomb” and for the “true poetry in her phrasing”, Renana Gutman has performed across three continents as an orchestral soloist, recitalist and collaborative artist. 

A top prize winner at Los Angeles Liszt competition, International Keyboard Festival in New York, and Tel-Hai Internationl Master Classes, she has performed with orchestras including Jerusalem Symphony, Belgian “I Fiamminghi”, Mannes College Community Orchestra and Doctors Orchestral Society of New York. Her versatile recordings have been heard and seen on British BBC, American NPR and Israeli “Voice of Music” radio stations and television.

An ardent interpreter of Beethoven, she was one of four young pianists selected by the renowned Leon Fleisher to participate in his workshop on Beethoven piano sonatas hosted by Carnegie Hall where she presented performances of “Hammerklavier” and “Appassionata” to critical acclaim.

She spent three summers at the Marlboro Music Festival where she has previously collaborated with Richard Goode, Mitsuko Uchida, and members of the Guarneri and Mendelssohn string quartets. Much affiliated with vocalists, she has performed with Lincoln Center soprano Susan Naruki and Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford. Her readings of contemporary and twentieth century composers such as Crumb, Currier, Ives, Saariaho, Kurtag, Ben- Haim, were heard at Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival, Walden Music School, New Music Mannes and several universities in the United States.

Her newly formed trio, “Terzetto”, has won critical acclaim in Cleveland and was featured at the Banff Center, Canada, and Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival, North Carolina.

Her 2009-2010 concert season with duo partner, violinist Dan Zhu, include Ravinia Rising Stars, Washington National Gallery, Stresa Music Festival, Italy and a tour in South Africa.

A native of Israel, Renana started piano playing at the age of six. Soon recognized as a prodigy garnering multiple awards and honors, she became a recipient of America Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship with distinction from 1992-2004, and later on of Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women Scholarship.

Her most influential teachers were pianists Natasha Tadson in Israel and Richard Goode at Mannes College of Music in New York where she completed her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. Other instructors and mentors were Victor Derevianko, Andras Schiff, Martin Isepp, Pnina Salzman, Marcel Baudet and Vladimir Feltsman.