Formed as a unique modular piano ensemble, MultiPiano is dedicated to the rich literature written for keyboard ensembles, from one piano with four hands to several pianos in a variety of multi-hand combinations.
The MultiPiano project was launched in 2011 under the umbrella of the Buchmann–Mehta School of Music, a joint institution of Tel Aviv University and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Featuring some of Israel’s radiant young pianists and their mentor Tomer Lev, one of the country’s prominent musicians, the MultiPiano project attracted much international attention immediately upon its foundation.
The ensemble has performed on four continents, from the Beijing Concert Hall and Buenos Aires’s Teatro Colón, to New York’s Merkin Concert Hall, and high-profile venues in London, Berlin, Frankfurt, Tel Aviv, Riga, and Tallinn, collaborating with world-class orchestras and organizations such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSB), English Chamber Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta and others, and the Mozarteum Argentino. The ensemble has performed at the Taipei, Xiamen, Ottawa, Baltic Sea, Hualien, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem music festivals, as well as on television and radio networks across the globe. In 2015, MultiPiano was awarded the Israeli Ministry of Culture prize for Best Israeli Chamber Ensemble.
The ensemble extensively toured North America in 2013, 2018, 2019; the Far East in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015; South America in 2012 and 2014; and routinely tours around Europe.
Considerable collaboration with Israel’s prominent orchestras has led to rare and daring repertoire selections, such as the first professional performance of Mendelssohn’s newly discovered Duo concertant: Variations on Weber’s “Preciosa” for two pianos and orchestra, WoO25 (the original 1833 version), with the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion, and the orchestral version of Chopin’s Rondo in C Major, Op 73, with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the premiere of Frank Martin’s Petite symphonie concertante for three pianos (originally harp, harpsichord, and piano), and two string orchestras with the Israel Camerata Jerusalem, as well as concerto commissions by Israeli composers Aryeh Levanon and Oded Zehavi.
In 2018, the ensemble presented a new version of Holst’s “The Planets” for piano and percussion ensemble, celebrating the iconic work’s centennial in a special concert at Merkin Concert Hall in New York. This unique version was created by seven prominent Israeli composers especially for MultiPiano and Tremolo percussion ensemble.
In April 2021, the ensemble’s first commercial recording with the English Chamber Orchestra was released by Hyperion Records—“Mozart: The Complete Multipiano Concertos”—including the first-ever concertante completion for two pianos and orchestra of Mozart’s Larghetto and Allegro in E flat Major (1781). The album was met with enthusiastic reviews worldwide, ranked sixth in the UK Specialist Classical Chart, and was named a Best Album Of 2021 by Scala Radio (UK).
This was followed by MultiPiano’s second album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, released in November 2022 by Naxos, including three world premieres by Shostakovich, Martin, and Levanon, alongside Poulenc’s double concerto. This album was included in Naxos’ best-selling albums for 2022-23.
In 2022, the ensemble collaborated with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in recording works by Mendelssohn, Schubert-Liszt, and Moscheles.
TOMER LEV
Tomer Lev enjoys an unusually versatile career as solo pianist, chamber musician, and pedagogue. As a concert pianist, he has collaborated with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony, and the Israel Philharmonic, as well as the symphony orchestras of Hamburg, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Tanglewood Festival, Varna Festival, Colorado, Quebec, Kiev, and many others, including all the major Israeli orchestras.
As recitalist and chamber musician, Lev has performed at the Lincoln Center in New York, the Berlin Philharmonie, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Beijing Concert Hall, Shanghai Municipal Theatre, Musikhalle Hamburg, Rudolfinum in Prague, Sala São Paulo, Glenn Gould Hall in Toronto, as well as all of Israel’s major halls.
An enthusiastic chamber musician, he was a member of the Israel Piano Trio; and in 2011 founded the MultiPiano Ensemble with his present and past outstanding students.
Tomer Lev is a co-founder of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University, which was founded in 2004, together with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Zubin Mehta, and business-man Joseph Buchmann. The school trains Israel’s elite young musicians and nurtures a future generation for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
BERENIKA GLIXMAN
Hailed by Maestro Zubin Mehta as “one of the greatest promises among the young generation of pianists today,” and described by the press as “hypnotic” performer, Berenika Glixman emerged as one of Israel’s leading young pianists.
Glixman was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated to Israel at the age of seven. She has performed as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic, the Fort Worth Symphony at the Piano Texas Van Cliburn International Festival, Bucharest Philharmonic, Bulgarian National Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Symphony under Zubin Mehta. In 2010, she was called to replace pianist Yuja Wang as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic at last-minute notice, performing Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto to critical and public acclaim for IPO’s subscription series. She is a prize winner of the 2011 Arthur Rubinstein International Master Competition, 2008 Van Cliburn International Festival Concerto Competition, 2008 Israel Radio Young Artist Competition, and 2005 Isidor Bajic International Competition in Serbia. Berenika Glixman completed her B.F.A. and M.A. degrees with distinction under Prof. Tomer Lev at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University, where she is currently a faculty member.
NIMROD HAFTEL-MEIRI
Nimrod Haftel-Meiri was born in Israel in 1994 and started playing the piano at the age of five. He is a graduate of the Israel Conservatory of Music and the Thelma Yellin High School for the Arts with distinction, a member of the Young Musicians Unit of the Jerusalem Music Center founded by the late Isaac Stern, and a recipient of scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.
Nimrod won several prominent Israeli competitions such as the Turgeman, Ashdod, Israel Radio Young Artists Competition, and the Israel Conservatory competition. He attended master classes with Boris Berman, Andrzej Jasinski, Gyorgy Sava, and the Tel-Hai International Piano Master Classes.
He has performed in numerous broadcasts for Israel Radio and at some of Israel's most prestigious venues such as Tel-Aviv Museum, Jerusalem Music Center, and Jaffa Music Center. Nimrod is now studying with Prof. Tomer Lev at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University.
In 2015 he was chosen to perform Mozart Concerto K. 242 with renown American pianist Emanuel Ax in a concert with the Jerusalem Symphony under Frederic Chaslin, live broadcasted nation-wide.
LIOR LIFSHITZ
Lior Lifshitz, 19-years-old, began his studies with Dr. Dror Zamel at the Israeli Conservatory in Tel Aviv, and now studies with Prof. Tomer Lev at the Buchman-Mehta Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. He started his solo career at the age of 10 with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and since then, he has performed with many orchestras such as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Camerata Jerusalem, the Rishon LeZion Symphony, etc. Lior won first prize in 2020 in the Israeli Radio Young Artist competition, first prizes in 2015, 2018 and 2021 in the Piano Forever in Ashdod, and the first prize in the Clairmont competition in 2022. He performed on the most important concert stages in Israel, such as the Charles Bronfmann Auditorium, the Tel Aviv Opera House, Henry Crown Symphony Hall at the Jerusalem Theater, and more. He has also performed in concerts abroad for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as in Germany, Sweden, and France. He is regularly coached by Maestro Marie Perahia in the Jerusalem Music Center outstanding young pianists' program.