Shai Zohar

Pianist Shai Zohar was born in Israel in 1995 and began his musical studies at the age of four, first under the guidance of his mother. He went on to earn his bachelor's degree from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv, where he studied with Tomer Lev, before continuing to graduate studies in New York City, completing his master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music with Alexandre Moutouzkine and at Brooklyn College with Ursula Oppens.

Over the course of his career, Zohar has distinguished himself on the international competition circuit, taking first prize at the Empire State piano competition in New York, the Princeton Festival piano competition in New Jersey, and the North piano competition in Stockholm, Sweden. He also holds the second prize from the Psanter Letamid competition in Ashdod, Israel, and the jury prize from the Leopold Bellan competition in Paris.

His musical development has been further shaped by masterclass study with Ilana Vered at Music Fest Perugia, as well as at the Gingold Chamber Music Festival in Florida, the Tel Hai piano masterclasses in Israel, and the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado, where he worked with such artists as Emanuel Ax, Yuja Wang, Jerome Lowenthal, and Dimitri Bashkirov.

As a soloist, Zohar has appeared with the Ashdod Symphony Orchestra, the Tel Aviv Soloists Orchestra, the Conductors Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival, and the Elicant Symphony Orchestra in Perugia, and has given recitals and concerts throughout Israel, the United States, France, and Italy. His achievements have been recognized with awards from the American-Israeli Cultural Foundation, the Ronen Foundation for supporting the arts, and the Zfonot-Tarbut music foundation. Today, alongside his performing career, Shai Zohar serves as owner of Zohar Pianos.