Co-Artistic Director, ChamberFest West

Praised by The New York Times for his “uncommon sensitivity and feeling,” pianist Roman Rabinovich is known for weaving intellect, curiosity, and spontaneity into performances that are as thought-provoking as they are emotionally resonant. Winner of the 2008 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, his subsequent career has led him to perform throughout Europe and the USA, in venues such as the Gewandhaus, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Cité de la Musique and Wigmore Hall, where he gave three solo recitals in the 2024–25 season.

Dubbed “a true polymath, in the Renaissance sense of the word” (Seen & Heard International), Rabinovich is also a composer and visual artist. He has garnered acclaim for concerto performances across the centuries, from Bach to Lutosławski, collaborating with leading orchestras worldwide, including the Israel Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Prague Symphony, KBS Symphony, and all major Israeli orchestras. In North America, he has appeared with the Seattle Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Sarasota Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, and Edmonton Symphony. He has worked with conductors including Sir Roger Norrington, Zubin Mehta, Ludovic Morlot, Kristjan Järvi, Michael Stern, Christoph Koenig, Gerard Schwarz, JoAnn Falletta, James Judd, and Joseph Swensen. The 2026-27 season includes concerto performances with Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Jacksonville Symphony, Sheboygan Symphony and Idaho Falls Symphony.

His recital repertoire spans six centuries, from Byrd to Boulez, with a recent focus on Bach’s Goldberg Variations, accompanied by a 32-episode social media series exploring the work. His recital for Mezzo was televised to 39 countries, reaching millions of viewers and recent recital appearances include Washington Performing Arts, 92nd Street Y, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Shriver Hall, Lincoln Center, Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City, Vancouver Recital Society, Gilmore Keyboard Festival’s Rising Stars Series, the Phillips Collection and Portland Piano International. In the 2027–28 season, Rabinovich will embark on a complete cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, with full cycles in the U.S., Canada, and Israel.

An avid chamber musician, Rabinovich has collaborated with the Dover, Modigliani, and Escher Quartets, as well as Steven Isserlis, Benjamin Beilman, Camille Thomas and Fleur Barron. He has appeared at major festivals including Marlboro, La Jolla SummerFest, Klavier Festival Ruhr, Lucerne, Davos, Prague Spring, Dvorak Prague and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

A passionate advocate for Haydn, Rabinovich has performed full sonata cycles at The Lammermuir and Bath Festivals, and curated a Haydn Day at Wigmore Hall. His two acclaimed recordings on First Hand Records reveal a pianist of elegance, wit, and expressive insight. Born in Tashkent and raised in Israel, he debuted with the Israel Philharmonic at age 10. A Curtis and Juilliard graduate, he was chosen by Sir András Schiff for his Building Bridges series and now co-directs ChamberFest Cleveland and ChamberFest West.