Itamar Golan

Born in 1970 in Vilnius, Lithuania, Itamar Golan is a prestigious Israeli pianist. The son of Israeli parents, the family moved back to their home country when Golan was one years old. At the ripe age of seven, he gave his first concerts in Tel Aviv. At fifteen he travelled to the US and studied at the New England Conservatory, in Boston. He has consecutively received the American-Israeli Foundation’s honour grant, which allowed him to further his studies. His great passion from the beginning has been chamber music, and he has performed with acclaimed musicians such as Barbara Hendricks, Maxim Vengerov, Tabea Zimmermann and Ida Haendel. He has recorded and given concerts with musicians such as Shlomo Mintz, Kyung Wha Chung, Julia Rachlin and Sharon Kam. With Mintz and Matt Haimovich he takes part in several world tours. His presence is constant in major international festivals such as The Prague Spring and the Ravinia, Chicago, Tanglewood, Edinburgh, Besanson, Ludwigsburg and Verbier festivals. Despite this dedication to chamber music, Itamar Golan has also performed as a soloist with some of the most important orchestras in the world, such as the Israel and Berlin philharmonics, conducted by Zubin Mehta, the Royal Philharmonic, conducted by Daniele Gatti, the Filarmonica della Scala and the Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Riccardo Muti, and the Philharmonia Orchestra, with Lorin Maazel. He has recorded for the most prestigious labels of the genre, such as Deutsche Grammophon, Teldec, EMI and Sony Classical. In 1991, at only 21 years of age, he was appointed professor at the Manhattan School of Music, where he taught for three years, becoming one of the institution’s youngest professors ever.