YARON KOHLBERG is one of Israel's leading young pianists. He is the winner of prestigious international prizes and performs regularly in Israel and abroad to critical acclaim. Kohlberg is winner of the second prize of the 2007 Cleveland International Piano Competition, where he performed in the final round with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Maestro Jahja Ling at Severance Hall. He also won a special prize for the best performance of a contemporary work in this competition. Kohlberg has won other International prizes, including the first prize (Marcatel Gran-Premio) and two special awards in the Parnassos international competition in Monterrey (Mexico), the second prize in the Grieg competition in Oslo, first prize in the Shostakovitch competition in Hanover and a prize in the Andorra international competition. In Israel he won the first prizes in the Clairmont competition, in the Young Artist competition, and in the piano competition of the Jerusalem Music Academy. He has also won a citation as the outstanding participant and a prize for a distinguished performance at the Tel- Hai masterclasses. From 1992 he has been a regular recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarships (with distinction). Centers at which he appeared in recitals and concerts abroad include famous halls such as the Kremlin in Moscow, the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Salle Cortot in Paris, the Cleveland Playhouse, the United Nations hall in Geneva, Bellas Artes in Mexico city and the Vigeland Museum in Oslo. He also performed in other concerts in the United States, Britain, Holland, Finland, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Russia and Sweden. In 2008-9 he is scheduled to play in the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and elsewhere in the US, Mexico, France and Italy. In Israel Kohlberg appeared several times as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and also performed with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the Raanana Symphonette and the Orchestra of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel-Aviv University. He also appeared with the Amadeus Orchestra (Mexico). He gave recitals in the Israel Festival, in the series Youth at the Center, at the Mormon University in Jerusalem and in the Felicia Blumenthal festival at the Tel-Aviv Museum, and also appeared in the Knesset and at the home of the President of Israel. Kohlberg plays many chamber concerts and has appeared with prominent Israeli chamber groups, including the Carmel Quartet and the Quartet for Contemporary Music. Kohlberg's teachers are Luisa Yoffe (1990-1999), Eitan Globerson (until 2003) and at present Arie Vardi. He did his military service in the status of Outstanding Musician, and is studying for a master's degree at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music. Masterclasses in which he took part were given by top musicians, including Dimitri Bashkirov, Yefim Bronfman, Jon O'Connor, Walter Hautzig, Alexander Korsantia, Gerome Lowenthal, Stephen Kovachevich, Murray Perahia, Nicolai Petrov, Matti Raekallio and Pnina Salzman. Kohlberg also participated in various television programs and recorded for the Voice of Music radio station. Lately he has served on the jury of national piano competitions in Israel and Mexico.

"He is a poised, expressive interpreter of Mozart and brought bountiful temperament, drive and controlled drama to the Chopin preludes. ... He filled the composer's Etude in A minor ... with bold, thrusting pianism."

—The Cleveland Plain Dealer