Saar Ahuvia, piano

The gathering of numerous international musical influences and tastes has been manifested in the pianism of Saar Ahuvia. A native of Israel, Mr. Ahuvia was awarded the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship for the extraordinary span of 10 consecutive years.

Mr. Ahuvia's highly acclaimed solo recitals have taken him to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Prague, Moscow, Zürich, New York, Baltimore, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, Paris, and Barcelona. He has appeared as a soloist with the Young Israel Philharmonic, the Haifa Symphony, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the Florida Symphony, the Musikreis Horgen (Switzerland), and the Israel Symphony Rishon le Zion. He has also appeared in radio and television broadcasts in Israel, Switzerland, and the U.S. He has appeared in solo performances at the Candas International Music Festival and the New Millennium Piano Festival, both in Spain.

Mr. Ahuvia made his public debut at age 10, and by 12 was already a promising soloist, winning the first prize of a Steinway-sponsored piano competition in Florida. In Israel, he won first prize in the Ariana Katcz Piano Competition and was finalist in the Francois Shapira Competition. In Barcelona, Mr. Ahuvia captured third prize and two special prizes at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition. During his studies in Switzerland, he was awarded the second prize at the Walter Bringolf Competition, and the Orpheus Prize.

Saar Ahuvia's teachers have included Arie Vardi, Michael Bugoslavsky, Gary Wolf, and Daniel Höxter. From Israel to Puerto Rico, Argentina, Switzerland, and finally the U.S., he studied at the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University, the Schaffhausen Conservatory (Switzerland), and the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He completed both a Masters of Music and a Graduate Performance Diploma at Peabody in 2004, under the direction of Leon Fleisher. While in Baltimore, he won the Baltimore Music Club Competition, was awarded a Peabody Career Development Grant, and reached the semifinal round at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. Mr. Ahuvia has also been a fellow at the Toradze Piano Institute at Indiana University South Bend.

In 2002, Mr. Ahuvia co-founded DUO, an ensemble that includes his wife, pianist Stephanie Ho. They live in New York City.

28 February 2006