Recently hailed by the New York Times as "an attractive, engaging presence on stage," violist Ori Kam has performed as soloist on some of the world's premier stages. After his debut at the age of 16 with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta, he was immediately re-engaged. Since then, he has performed with virtually every orchestra in Israel, the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the New Jersey Symphony at the new NJ Performing Arts Center, the Bronxville Symphony, the Manhattan Philharmonia, and Sinfonia Varsovia.
Mr. Kam is a frequent recitalist and has performed extensively throughout the US, Europe, and Israel. His recital appearance at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital hall received reviews such as "(Kam is) a rare viola soloist," and "Mr. Kam's playing (was) at once mature and youthfully exuberant."
As an avid performer of chamber music, Mr. Kam is a founder and artistic director of the Israel Chamber Music Society. He was the violist of the Naumburg award winning Whitman String Quartet. Independently, he has collaborated with artists such as Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Gil Shaham, Bernard Greenhouse, Lynn Harrel, David Geringas, Emmanuel Pahud and the Saint Lawrence and Jerusalem String Quartets. He has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and was guest artist in the numerous festivals including Verbier, Tangelwood, Aspen, Santa-Fe, Schleswig-Holstein, La Jolla, Chamber Music Northwest, the Schubertiade, and the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival to name a few.
Mr. Kam was born to Israeli Parents in La Jolla, CA in 1975, and grew up in Israel. He started his musical Education at the age of 6, and began playing the viola at 15. In Israel, he studied with Renowned Teacher Chaim Taub, and between 1994 and 1997, studied with Pinchas Zukerman and Patinka Kopec at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. Later, he concluded his studies with Wilfried Strehle at the University for the arts in Berlin. Mr. Kam has been the winner of several awards and prizes including The Swiss Prize at the Geneva Int'l Music Competition, The "Pagannini" Prize in the Int'l Lionel Tertis Competition, and in '95 was the winner of the concerto competition at the Manhattan School of Music. From 1990 to 2000, he has been a recipient of scholarships from the America-Israel Culture Foundation.
In 2007, He released his first commercial recording under the "Berlin Classics" label of the Bruch Double concerto for viola and clarinet by Max Bruch, which he recorded with his sister Sharon. He can also be heard on the Naxos Label. Mr. Kam can often be heard on National Public Radio in the US, the Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne, and Hamburg Radio Houses in Germany, the Radio de la Suisse Romande in Switzerland, France Musique in France, and the Israeli Radio.
January 2008