Boaz Sharon

USA

boaz_sharon

Boaz Sharon is an international recording artist, the Chairman of the Piano Department at Boston University, and the Director of Piano Studies at the Tanglewood Institute.

The Israeli-born Sharon moved to Brussels at the age of 13 to study for five years with renowned Mozart and Chopin interpreter Stefan Askenase, before continuing his studies with the acclaimed American concert pianist Leonard Shure.

Sharon was an Artist in Residence at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina prior to joining the University of Florida faculty in 1996. That same year he launched the annual Prague International Piano Masterclasses, considered to be among the world’s premiere piano festivals, and has served as its artistic director since its inception. From 2002 to 2007, Sharon was a member of the Artist Faculty for the International Certificate for Piano Artists programme, affiliated with the École Normale de Musique de Paris-Alfred Cortot and held in Brussels, Paris and Gainesville, Florida. He continues to serve as Artistic Director of the annual Steinway Festival at the University of Florida School of Music. Sharon has garnered many honors throughout his career, including First Prize at the Jaen International Piano Competition (Spain). In July 2006 he was named an honorary fellow by Prague’s Charles University. In 1998, the Czech government presented him with the Jubilee Medal for outstanding contributions in the field of piano to Charles University, upon the university’s 650th anniversary celebration. He was also awarded the 2005 Distinguished International Educator award from the University of Florida.

Sharon maintains an active performance schedule and has performed at the Phillips Collection (Washington, D.C.), National Recital Hall (Taipei), as part of the Steinway Celebrity Series at Britain’s Kingston University, at the Gasteig Recital Hall (Munich), the International Liszt Festival (Rio de Janeiro) and Prague’s National Museum. In 2004, Sharon presented 14 recitals and concerts with orchestras from Russia’s Far East, Siberia, the Ural Mountains, European Russia and Moscow. His artistry has been captured on such prestigious recording labels as Nonesuch (Elektra/Warner Bros), Hyperion (London) and Arcobaleno (Brussels). His concerts and records have been reviewed in The New York Times, The Washington Post and in the London Daily Telegraph.