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ROMAN RABINOVICH
Pianist
Roman Rabinovich, piano | Zefunot Culture
ZEFUNOT SCHOLARSHIP

Zefunot Culture introduced Roman to its audience and awarded him scholarships annually from an early age. The organization financed his participation in the Piano Competition for Young Musicians in Holland. In 2008 it supported his participation in the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in which he was a winner.

PRESS QUOTES

“Mr. Rabinovich performed with uncommon sensitivity and feeling... he immediately brought a wonderful brio and spontaneity to Bach’s English Suite No. 4 in F... Mr. Rabinovich played with crisp rhythmic bite and abundant colorings...”

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Anthony Tommasini,

New York Times, March 2015

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"The whole concert was played in an exceptionally cultivated way and with a high degree of technical finish ...an evening of exceptional music making."

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Robert Beattie,

Seen and Heard International,

December 2013

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BIOGRAPHY

Praised by the New York Times for his “uncommon sensitivity and feeling,” the eloquent young pianist Roman Rabinovich is the winner of the 2008 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition. Mr. Rabinovich has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Israel in such prestigious venues as Wigmore Hall in London, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Carnegie’s Zankel Hall, as well as the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Cité de la Musique in Paris and the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.    

 

Noted by critics for the “vivacity and virtuosity” and “the impeccable clarity of execution,” Mr. Rabinovich’s 2015-16 highlights include Rachmaninov Concerto No. 3 with the KBS Orchestra and Yoel Levi, as well as return appearances with the Ann Arbor Symphony (Prokofiev Concerto No. 3) and the Dohnanyi Orchestra (Bartok Concerto No. 2). Recital engagements include Vancouver Recital Society, Cincinnati Matinee Musical Series, Chopin Society in St Paul, MN, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and the Walter Reade Theatre, as well as the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff. Mr Rabinovich’s chamber partners this season will include the Doric and the Ariel Quartets. During the 2016-17 season Mr. Rabinovich will present his “Haydn Project,” comprising the complete Haydn Piano Sonatas at the Lammermuir Festival in Scotland and at the Tel Aviv Conservatory in Israel and will make debut appearances with the Toulouse Capitole Orchestra and the Calgary Philharmonic. Last season distinguished pianist András Schiff chose Rabinovich for his “Building Bridges” series created to highlight young pianists of unusual promise. Under this aegis Rabinovich was presented in a series of recitals in Zurich’s Tonhalle, Berlin, Ruhr Piano Festival, and New York’s SubCulture with a thoughtful selection of works by Bach, Brahms, Bartók, and Smetana that explore elements of dance and folk music in each of these composers.  Anthony Tommasini, senior music critic of The New York Times (March 3, 2015) extolled Rabinovich’s performance of a Bach English Suite: “The challenge for a pianist is to convey the bouncy character of a dance while bringing clarity to the intricate contrapuntal lines, Rabinovich did so beautifully.” Rabinovich, in an eighty-minute recital without a break, went on to perform Brahms’s formidable Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel: “Most pianists would choose this piece as a heroic and virtuosic conclusion to a recital. Rabinovich performed it with uncommon sensitivity and feeling for the elements of Baroque style and dance forms that inspired Brahms…As this winning recital made clear, Mr. Schiff is a discerning judge of young pianists.”

 

Rabinovich, "whose mature, self-assured playing belies his chronological age” (San Fransisco Classical Voice) made his Israel Philharmonic debut under the baton of Zubin Mehta at age 10 and appeared again as soloist with the same forces in 1999 and 2003. He has been heard as soloist with all the Israeli orchestras, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, KBS Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Prague Symphony, Lubbock Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Symphony in C, Riverside Philharmonic, Dohnányi Orchestra and many other orchestras. Mr. Rabinovich performed Mozart’s concertos K. 488 and K. 595 with the Camerata Jerusalem on the orchestra’s tour in Italy.  In April 2009 as part of his prize at the Rubinstein Competition Mr. Rabinovich played a recital for the Mezzo channel in France, which was televised to 39 countries and to millions of viewers. In May 2008 Rabinovich replaced the eminent pianist Murray Perahia in a recital at the Mann Auditorium in Tel-Aviv. To date Mr. Rabinovich has participated in such festivals as Marlboro, Lucerne, Davos, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Prague Spring, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

 

An avid chamber musician, he performed the complete Beethoven Sonatas for violin and piano with Liza Ferschtman last year. In May 2016, they will team up again for a chamber music marathon of Brahms in three consecutive concerts in Tel Aviv.  In December 2013 Rabinovich returned to Wigmore Hall with a solo recital and was immediately invited back for two more recitals in future seasons. In May 2014 Rabinovich made his Prague Spring Festival debut playing a solo recital in Rudolfinum and Rachmaninov Concerto No. 2 in Smetana Hall. In spring 2014 he toured with the Haifa Orchestra throughout the United States, performing as soloist in 28 cities. The tour included four concertos: Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Rachmaninov’s Piano Concertos Nos 2 & 3, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3.  In 2013, Orchid Classics released Mr. Rabinovich’s debut recording: “Ballets Russes”: Ravel/Rabinovich Daphnis & Chloe, Stravinsky Petrushka; and Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet, all arranged for piano solo.

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Rabinovich was honored with the Classical Recording Foundation Artist of the Year award for his CD, which was also given a four-star review by BBC Music Magazine, who had this to say: “This is clearly a labour of love. Rabinovich's stylish line drawings adorn the booklet, and the enthusiasm of his joyful playing is infectious. There is plenty of dazzling passagework to savor, with the "Dance Russe" zinging along merrily. It is the broad palette of colours that is most impressive, especially in the more poetic moments, such as the closing pages of "Romeo and Juliet before parting" (August 2013) In addition to winning the top prize and four additional awards, including the prestigious Mezzo Award, best classical concerto, best young Israeli competitor and best performance of an Israeli piece awards at the 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel in 2008. Rabinovich won first prize at the Animato Piano Competitions in Paris in 2007.

 

Rabinovich, born in 1985 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, began his piano studies at the age of six with his mother, Mira. In 1994, he and his parents immigrated to Israel where he studied with Irena Vishnevitsky and later with professor Arie Vardi at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. He is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Seymour Lipkin and obtained his Master’s Degree at the Juilliard School where he studied with Robert McDonald. Rabinovich also excels as a gifted artist. He often combines his concerts with exhibitions of his paintings. Besides traditional painting Rabinovich draws on his iPad.

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