About Yakir About Yakir

Pianiste de génie auquel on s’attache très vite sur scène, Yakir Arbib est de ces personnalités rares dont il ne faut manquer aucun concert ! (Télérama, 2021)

Hailed by the press as “the king of improvisation”, Yakir Arbib is an international award winning pianist, composer and improviser. Equally versed in classical music and jazz he pushes musical boundaries with his unique improvisatory talent, bringing seemingly distant worlds together at the turn of a wrist. Each Yakir Arbib live performance is a personal and unrepeatable journey of emotions and musical colors.

Il y a deux ans on faisait la connaissance de Yakir Arbib. Atteint de déficience visuelle et de synesthésie, syndrome qui lui fait « voir » les sons sous forme de taches de couleur, l’israélien débarquait en solo intégral, escaladant Giant Steps par la face nord, conjuguant son grain de folie tatumesque à la rectitude du récitant classique. Un choc !(Jazz News, 2021)

Blind since birth and with Synesthesia (a blending of different senses), Yakir sees each musical tone as a distinct color which guides him in his creative process as he sits down at the piano to create. Yakir made his recording debut at age 19 when he was signed by the Italian Philology Jazz Records (Chet Baker, Lee Konitz and Phil Woods) following his winning first price at the Massimo Urbani International Jazz Competition in Italy. After which an international career ensued with performances at some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world including Salle Pleyel, Montreux Palace Theatre, Steinway Hall Boston, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Jerusalem Theatre among others.

In 2015, he won second place at the prestigious Montreux International Piano Jazz Competition and was declared “most original pianist” by the jury.  He has been featured on Italian national tv, Medici Tv and Sky Classica, and on radio stations such as: France Musique, TSF Jazz, Fip, CIBL 101,5, Kol Ha Musica, Rai 3 and Vatican Radio.  His 2019 solo album for JMS My Name is Yakir , was nominated Best Jazz Album of the Year on Telerama in France.  His follow up trio album Three Colors was nominated “Shock” on Jazz Magazine and was doubly released on the Delta Recordings label in Germany. Yakir has collaborated with international artists of the caliber of Kurt Rosenwinkel, The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Nils Petter Molvær, Al Jarreau, the Stradivari String Sextet, Thomas Bloch, Darren Barrett, Theodore Antoniou and others. His most recent solo album Beyond the Music is a collection of personal re-compositions of his childhood-favorite composers: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy and Satie, in his own style. It is scheduled to be released later this year.

Pianiste de génie auquel on s’attache très vite sur scène, Yakir Arbib est de ces personnalités rares dont il ne faut manquer aucun concert ! (Télérama, 2021)

Hailed by the press as “the king of improvisation”, Yakir Arbib is an international award winning pianist, composer and improviser. Equally versed in classical music and jazz he pushes musical boundaries with his unique improvisatory talent, bringing seemingly distant worlds together at the turn of a wrist. Each Yakir Arbib live performance is a personal and unrepeatable journey of emotions and musical colors.

Il y a deux ans on faisait la connaissance de Yakir Arbib. Atteint de déficience visuelle et de synesthésie, syndrome qui lui fait « voir » les sons sous forme de taches de couleur, l’israélien débarquait en solo intégral, escaladant Giant Steps par la face nord, conjuguant son grain de folie tatumesque à la rectitude du récitant classique. Un choc !(Jazz News, 2021)

Blind since birth and with Synesthesia (a blending of different senses), Yakir sees each musical tone as a distinct color which guides him in his creative process as he sits down at the piano to create. Yakir made his recording debut at age 19 when he was signed by the Italian Philology Jazz Records (Chet Baker, Lee Konitz and Phil Woods) following his winning first price at the Massimo Urbani International Jazz Competition in Italy. After which an international career ensued with performances at some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world including Salle Pleyel, Montreux Palace Theatre, Steinway Hall Boston, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Jerusalem Theatre among others.

In 2015, he won second place at the prestigious Montreux International Piano Jazz Competition and was declared “most original pianist” by the jury.  He has been featured on Italian national tv, Medici Tv and Sky Classica, and on radio stations such as: France Musique, TSF Jazz, Fip, CIBL 101,5, Kol Ha Musica, Rai 3 and Vatican Radio.  His 2019 solo album for JMS My Name is Yakir , was nominated Best Jazz Album of the Year on Telerama in France.  His follow up trio album Three Colors was nominated “Shock” on Jazz Magazine and was doubly released on the Delta Recordings label in Germany. Yakir has collaborated with international artists of the caliber of Kurt Rosenwinkel, The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Nils Petter Molvær, Al Jarreau, the Stradivari String Sextet, Thomas Bloch, Darren Barrett, Theodore Antoniou and others. His most recent solo album Beyond the Music is a collection of personal re-compositions of his childhood-favorite composers: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy and Satie, in his own style. It is scheduled to be released later this year.

Booking :  Maïté / LMD Productions –  phone + 33 1 48 57 51 48

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