OHAD BEN-ARI, composer and pianist

Israeli-born Ohad Ben-Ari's career began with performances as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra when he was merely 12 years old. The following year, Ohad Ben-Ari was officially enrolled as a student at Tel-Aviv University, where he studied piano and composition. As a pianist, Ohad has won numerous top prizes at international competitions, among them the ARD and the Arthur Rubinstein Competitions. As a result, he received many invitations to appear in recitals, as a soloist with orchestras and as a chamber musician all around the world. 

In 1996 Ohad headed for the USA and set to work as a music producer specializing in pop and in urban music. In the following years he would work with top American pop artists, appear in major TV shows and record a vast array of styles and repertoire, ranging from Classical to Jazz and Pop. Success followed his joint venture with his sister, violinist Miri Ben-Ari, who won a Grammy Award while working with Ohad on her solo album for Universal Records. 

Since 2010 Ohad Ben-Ari resides with his family in Berlin. Starting in 2014, he is the founder and director of the "ID Festival" Berlin. Supported by the German Government, the festival serves as a platform for Israeli artists in Germany. Ohad also continues his extensive work as a performer and a composer. He partners frequently with violinists Guy Braunstein and mandolinist Avi Avital as well as with the Mezzo-Soprano Magdalena Kožená. Further collaborations ensued with Alisa Weilerstein, Sol Gabetta, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Emmanuel Pahud, David Orlowsky, Andreas Ottensamer, Ray Chen and Yuja Wang.

Ohad Ben-Ari has enjoyed a close relationship with the Berliner Philharmoniker since his début in 2014 under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. He frequently tours as a chamber musician with members of the orchestra. Violins of Hope, Ben-Ari’s piece for strings was commissioned and performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2015.

Many of Ben-Ari's original works and transcriptions are performed world-wide. Together with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Ben-Ari's first symphonic work, Tips, premiered in early 2013. His Marimba Concerto was premiered in Tokyo in 2014. In 2015, Violins of Hope was commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic. Ben-Ari's Requiem for choir, organ and large chamber ensemble, premiered in Hamburg in 2018. In 2021 he wrote APOPLEXY for the International Violin Stuttgart Competition. His most recent composition, "Paterson" - a song cycle for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, will have its premiere next season with the Georgian Chamber Orchestra Ingolstadt.