Inon Barnatan

Called “one of the most admired pianists of his generation” by the New York Times, Inon Barnatan has received universal acclaim for his “uncommon sensitivity” by the New Yorker, “impeccable musicality and phrasing” by Le Figaro, and his stature as “a true poet of the keyboard: refined, searching, unfailingly communicative” by The Evening Standard. A multifaceted musician, Barnatan is equally celebrated as a soloist, curator, and collaborator.

As a soloist, Barnatan is a regular performer with many of the world’s foremost orchestras and conductors. He was the inaugural artist-in-association of the New York Philharmonic from 2014-17 and has played with the BBC Symphony for the BBC Proms, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Cleveland Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of Chicago and Boston, and most major U.S. orchestras, as well as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and the London, Hong Kong, and Royal Stockholm philharmonics.

Barnatan's 2024-25 season highlights included performances with major orchestras worldwide. He opened the season with a gala performance at the San Diego Symphony, and performed with the New Jersey Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Israel Symphony Orchestra, and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he continues his collaboration with cellist Alisa Weilerstein, with performances at Stanford Live and Celebrity Series of Boston, and will perform alongside James Ehnes at Wigmore Hall. Barnatan and Weilerstein continue their collaboration with the recording of a highly anticipated album of Brahms' cello sonatas, released by Pentatone in November 2024.

Equally at home as a curator and chamber musician, Barnatan is music director of the La Jolla Music Society SummerFest in California, one of the leading music festivals in the country. He regularly collaborates with world-class partners such as soprano Renée Fleming and Alisa Weilerstein and plays at major chamber music festivals, including the Spoleto Festival USA, and those in Seattle, Santa Fe. Barnatan was a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two) from 2006 to 2009 and continues to perform with CMS in New York and on tour. 

Born in Tel Aviv in 1979, Inon Barnatan started playing piano at the age of 3, when his parents discovered his perfect pitch, and made his orchestral debut at 11. His musical education connects him to some of the 20th century’s most illustrious pianists and teachers: he studied first with Victor Derevianko, a student of Russian master Heinrich Neuhaus, before moving to London in 1997 to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Christopher Elton and Maria Curcio, a student of the legendary Artur Schnabel. The late Leon Fleisher was also an influential teacher and mentor.