Since making his début with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta, Eliran Avni has performed throughout Europe, South America, and the United States. He has made numerous recordings for both Israeli and German broadcasting systems and has appeared as a special guest on Israeli Television with the Israel Philharmonic. Born in Israel in 1975, he began his musical training at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music studying with Marina Bondarenko and later serving in the Israeli Defence Forces under the special status of 'distinguished musician'. In Israel he won first prize in both the Clairmont and Rachmaninov Competitions and has been an annual scholarship recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation since 1989. A champion of chamber music, he has collaborated with artists such as Yehuda Hanani, Yehonatan Berick, Jennifer Aylmer, William Sharp, and actress Sigourney Weaver, and has been the featured pianist of both the Hindemith and Brahms Festivals in Germany. Trained by the Young Musician Unit at the Jerusalem Music Centre, he has studied under Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, and Maria Curcio. Eliran Avni received both his Batchelor's and Masters degrees studying with Yoheved Kaplinsky at the Juilliard School where he is currently completing his Doctorate studying with both Kaplinsky and Jerome Lowenthal as well as working on his dissertation, The Musician's Challenge: Merging Emotion and Structure in Music with his advisor, Carl
