Orli Shaham speaks with WUWM ahead of her performances with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

"Shaham gave a commanding, powerful performance of the Bartok concerto, playing with a big, warm sound that was full of sometimes-bold and sometimes-subtle shifts in timbre and color."

Orli Shaham is one of the soloists, along with Marc-Andre Hamelin, for John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music this weekend at the LA Phil. Adams himself conducts and the program also includes a big world premiere of the Symphony No. 12 by Philip Glass.

Live Taping at Bowdoin College on October 17 will be broadcast nationwide in December

Renowned pianist Orli Shaham, conductor David Robertson, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra announce the international release of an album featuring two of Mozart’s most-loved piano concertos.

From a very young age, pianists invest themselves fully in practice and performance. Their commitment is so deep and their talent so inspiring that it’s difficult to imagine them doing anything else.

The great pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff once said, “Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.” This is true not only with respect to the infinite scope of feeling, fascination and joy that music offers, but also with respect to the virtually infinite repertoire.

This Valentine's Day WQXR asked pianist Orli Shaham and conductor David Robertson about the joys and challenges of sharing their profession and their life — plus, top tips for long-lasting love.

"We all feel we have something failing us in humanity, but at the same time we experience joy and connection with other human beings," says pianist Orli Shaham. "In this way the piece is timeless."

Bernstein's Age of Anxiety is a symphony, but it is also a piano concerto, which makes it quite interesting for me as the soloist.

Her reputation as a Mozart specialist was on display as her crystaline and lucid touch drew a very Classical sound from the modern concert grand onstage. Mozart requires enormous precision, but that detailed playing shouldn't be at the expense of warmth. Shaham has all those bases covered and earned an enthusiastic standing ovation from the crowd.

"There’s something about Mozart that’s really formational and formative. The music is so cleanly written that all the basic elements that you need to understand for anything else are already in his notes.”

On February 11, 2018 the Pacific Symphony’s “Café Ludwig” concert series commemorates the centennial of Leonard Bernstein and Steve Reich’s 80th birthday. Pianist Orli Shaham has been curator of the “Café Ludwig” series since 2007, and performs on each program. She shares her thoughts about this all-American program:

"As this new, superb live recording, with Orli Shaham and Marc-André Hamelin as the two swashbuckling pianists shows, "Grand Pianola Music" ... Thirty years on, it’s still enormous fun, tongue in cheek but serious, too."

"A treasurable album, which alternately soothes and tickles the ears."

...the lasting impress is of authentic affection and love.