Imri Talgam (born November 30th, 1987 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an American classical concert pianist, composer, and musicologist based in the Netherlands.[1][2]
Talgam studied piano in the class of Emanuel Krasovsky at the Tel-Aviv University, before studying with Matti Raekallio at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover. Other teachers have included Ueli Wiget and Arnon Erez. After receiving his master's degree under Raekallio and Robert McDonald at the Juilliard School, he attended the CUNY Graduate Center with Ursula Oppens, receiving his doctorate, empathizing the perception and performance of rhythmic complexity, which was advised by Joseph Straus. He additionally attended the Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt,[3] and Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music, studying with Red Wierenga and Douglas Geers.[4]
Talgam's father is Israeli conductor Itay Talgam, a student of Leonard Bernstein.[5]
Career beginnings
Talgam won the 11th Concours International de Piano d’Orléans, in which he received 1st prize, as well as the Denisov prize and the Claude Helffer prize.[1] In 2017, he was also awarded the Yvar Mikhashoff Foundation prize together with Yair Klartag for their collaboration. Since then, he has toured internationally, playing with ensembles including the Ensemble Modern, the Israeli Contemporary players, Novus, Talea, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, the Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, the Croatian Radio-Television Orchestra, and the Israeli Symphony Orchestra, and the Metropolis Ensemble. He has worked with composers like Pierre Boulez, Helmut Lachenmann, Enno Poppe, Unsuk Chin, Matthais Pintscher, and Péter Eötvös.[6][7]
His debut album featured work by Nancarrow, Kagel, Stockhausen and Furrer. It was praised for it's “virtuosity and refined touch” by the prestigious Diapason Magazine and as well as in Classica Magazine in France. He is best known for creating transcription of Nancarrow's Studies for Player Piano, which are meant to be for the player piano, and not a human pianist. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Messiaen’s Vingt Regards su l'enfant-Jésus, Frederic Rzewski's The People United Will Never be Defeated, and Ligeti's Études are also in his repertoire.[8][9] As a composer, his work combines microsound and sound spatialization techniques with algorithmic composition and generative strategies.
University positions
He has held masterclasses and visiting positions at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, Royaumont’s Voix Nouvelles, Tel-Aviv University, University of Georgia Athens, and the Tomsk conservatory in Russia. He has worked as a researcher at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music.
Refs
References
- ^ a b "Imri Talgam – 2014 – Orléans Concours International". Retrieved 2026-01-14.
- ^ "Imri Talgam". AICF. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
- ^ "Imri Talgam". groupmuse. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
- ^ "Faculty". Soloist. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
- ^ Kelly, Guy (2015-07-10). "Itay Talgam: 'Burnout rates for classical musicians do not surprise me'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
- ^ "Imri Talgam – Artist Biography | tonebase Piano". tonebase. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
- ^ "Imri Talgam | The Greenwich Village Orchestra". www.gvo.org. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
- ^ "Ligeti At the Limits of Human Performance, Taught By Imri Talgam | tonebase Piano". tonebase. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
- ^ "Imri Talgam remporte le 11e concours international de piano d'Orléans". France Musique (in French). 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
