BOAZ SHARON
piano
Boaz Sharon is Professor of Piano and Chair of Piano at Boston University and Director of the Young Artists Piano Program at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Boaz Sharon studied from the age of 13 with Stefan Askenase – famed interpreter of Chopin and Mozart – in Brussels, Belgium. He later pursued his piano studies in the US with Leonard Shure.
Sharon, who is first prize winner and gold medalist of the Jaen International Piano Competition, is an international recording artist for Nonesuch, Hyperion, Arcobaleno and Unicorn-Kanchana Records. His recording release on Nonesuch/Asylum/Warner Bros. was cited as among the best recordings of the year by Newsweek Magazine and was cited by the New York Times as “beautifully recorded and played”.
Among concerts given have been performances in the Taipei National Performing Arts Center, Taiwan; Steinway Celebrity Series, London; Phillips Collection and National Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Liszt International Piano Festival, Rio de Janeiro; the Chapelle Historique Piano Series, Montreal; and the Gasteig Hall, Munich.
Boaz Sharon was formerly Pianist-in-Residence at Duke University and Professor of Piano at the University of Florida. He is a frequent judge at competitions including the Rudolf Firkusny International Piano Competition, Prague; the Liszt International Piano Competition, Moscow; the Jaen International Piano Competition, Spain; and the “Composers of Spain” International Competition, Madrid.
Having founded and then directed the Prague International Piano Masterclasses for 13 years, he is also on the artist faculty of the Ruza International Piano Festival in Russia, and was co-founder and on the faculty of the International Certificate for Piano Artists (sponsored by the Ecole Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot, Paris).
Sharon is Honorary Fellow at Charles University, Prague. In 2009 he was appointed Visiting Professor at the China Conservatory in Beijing.
In recent years Sharon has given a recital and orchestral tour of 13 concerts in Russia from the Far East to Moscow, which included several performances with the Ural State Philharmonic. He was on the artist faculty of the International Piano Academy at Seoul National University, appeared on MBC-TV in South Korea, and presented recitals at the Beijing Concert Hall, Shanghai Concert Hall, Ruza International Piano Festival in Russia, the Nordic Piano Festival in Sweden, Yamaha Hall in New York City, Yamaha Hall in Seoul, and at the Bergamo International Festival in Italy.
In the 2012-13 year Sharon gave concerts in Tel Aviv, Israel; London, England; and at the Sichuan International Piano Festival, China for which he is Artistic Director. Sharon also gave a masterclass at the Royal College of Music in London and was in residency at the Middle School attached to the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing.
In the 2014-15 year Sharon gave concerts in Seoul (Mozart Hall), New York City (Harvard Club), Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rio de Janeiro, and San Paulo. He served on the jury of the Jaen International Competition in Spain and at the Second International Youth Competition, Kaufman Center, New York City.