Ilya Friedburg, piano

Pianist of the Bloomington Trio, Ilya Friedberg has been described as an “Artist who puts his listener to a musical magic”  by pianist Menahem Pressler. Ilya’s music has taken him to Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Jerusalem Theater, Small Philharmonic Hall of St. Petersburg, and various venues across United States, South America, Israel, and Europe.

Ilya is a passionate chamber musician and is a sought–after collaborator among the members of Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Carol Vaness, Timothy Noble, Mark Kaplan, Alissa Margulis, Alexander Buzlov, and Pacifica Quartet who described him as an “Exceptional chamber musician”

In the fall of 2017, his creative force has enabled him to successfully launch the inaugural Variation Project. It is a collaboration between Ilya, J. S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and 15 composers. The project excitedly combines Ilya’s two passions as a pianist/composer. His compositions include “Boheme Fantasy for Viola and Piano”, Breaking Silence series, and “6 Studies on Extended Technique for Piano Solo”

Being a passionate educator, Ilya finds working with the new generation of pianists fun and inspiring. He has given masterclasses at Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel-Aviv University, Adamant Music School, and at Stellenbosch International Piano Competition where he was invited as a Jury Member. He served as Mr. Pressler’s studio and teaching assistant and is an active artist-faculty at Indiana University’s Summer String Academy, and Sonad Project

Born in Moscow, Ilya stepped into the world of music by watching his mother teach piano. Soon after he started his education at Gnesin School for Gifted Children. After immigrating to Israel, he studied piano with Luisa Yoffi and was influenced by Lazar Bendersky and Vladimir Silva. He continued his education at Oberlin with Sanford Margolis and at Indiana University with Menahem Pressler. His other musical influences are legendary jazz master David Baker, pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy, composers Claude Baker and Douglas Hofstadter.

With flutist Roy Amotz, his first cd “Dreams” featuring works of Reinecke and Rachmaninoff is available on Amazon Streaming and iTunes.

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