Pianist Ari Livne, one of three pianists nationwide selected as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, was also a Gold Award winner at the youngARTS week sponsored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA). His performances at Benaroya Hall and the Kennedy Center, as well as those with the Seattle Symphony, have been met with critical acclaim.

Active as a collaborator, chamber musician, and solo artist, Ari premiered a new set of songs by the composer Cyrus Von Hochstetter at Juilliard’s Paul Hall in February 2014, and presented a recital of Brahms’ last four completed works at the same venue the previous October. He recently was one of two Juilliard students selected to be a featured performer at the Kyoto International Music Festival in Kyoto, Japan, and he has been invited to perform multiple times at the Hudson Chamber Society in New York. Ari has appeared twice at the Juilliard Focus Festival, and in April 2012 he performed for Dr. Alexander Scriabine and Dr. Christine Scriabine, close relatives of the composer Alexander Scriabin. He has also been a faculty member at the State College Piano Festival (State College, PA), where he performed both a solo recital and a recital of Beethoven Violin Sonatas on successive evenings.

Ari has appeared as the Seattle Chamber Music Festival’s Emerging Artist, and is a two-time winner of both the University of Puget Sound’s Concerto Competition and the Northwest Chopin Competition. In addition, he has won the Washington Music Teachers National Association Competition, the Eastside Scholarship Competition, and the Washington Music Educators Association Competition. He was chosen to be the youngest participant in the Tel-Hai International Master Classes in Israel, and has spent summers studying and performing at the Aspen Music Festival and at the International Keyboard Institute & Festival in New York. 

Ari Livne received his Bachelor of Arts from Yale College in 2012, and recently completed his Master of Music Degree at The Juilliard School. He wishes particularly to acknowledge his teacher and mentor, Zitta Zohar, whose wisdom and imagination have been continually inspiring.