Ittai Shapira

July 25, 2011. 

Our friends at GetClassical recently wrote about the talented Israeli violinist and composer Ittai Shapira. His Concierto Latino, inspired by Latin dances and based on elements of Tango and Flamenco, premiered in 2008.  You can listen to the final movement ("The Party") here, it’s performed by Ittai with London Serenata, Krzysztof Chorzelski, conductor.  You can also listen to Frédéric Chopin’s Polonaise Brilliante arrange by Ittai for violin and piano, performed by him and the pianist Jeremy Denk (here).  And here you can listen to the 3^rd movement of the violin concerto by the brilliant Israeli composer Avner Dorman.  Here is what GetClassical wrote about Ittai.

Violinist Ittai Shapira: how everyone can relate, when personal events transpire into musical compositions

So far, 14 compositions by different contemporary composers have been dedicated to violinist Ittai Shapira. Belonging to the now thirty something generation of performers  of the New York classical music scene – he and pianist Jeremy Denk were roommates in college- he is now renowned as a versatile performer of an enormous classical violin repertoire, incorporating past and present, traditional as well as contemporary.

One of these premieres included the violin concerto written for him by Israeli compatriot and Pulitzer Prize winner, Shulamit Ran. It was performed at Shapira’s acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut in 2003 with the Orchestra of St.Luke’s.  In 2007, it was incorporated into Ran’s compilation of works performed by Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Shapira’s international performances as a fine soloist with many leading orchestras as well as chamber groups, coupled with his varied recordings, show his widespread interest in standard and unusual repertoire, explaining why so many composers dedicate  works for his performance.

Another Israeli compatriot, a composer who lately enjoys great international demand, Avner Dorman, wrote a violin concerto for Shapira as well, in 2006. It was performed with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.

Dorman was, as was Shapira, trained at Juilliard after leaving Israel for New York. While Dorman studied composition with John Corigliano, Shapira studied violin with Dorothy DeLay and Robert Mann and privately coached with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman.

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