In March 2023, Ariel was honored to receive the Prix Serdang, a Swiss prize  awarded by the distinguished Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder. The prize  is endowed with CHF 50,000 and is not a competition, but a recognition of a  young pianist’s achievements and an investment in their future. 

Prior to this Ariel won 3rd prize at the 2021 Leeds International Piano  Competition, performing Brahms Concerto No. 2 with the Royal Liverpool  Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Manze in the Finals. He was a prize  winner in the inaugural Young Classical Artists Trust (London) and Concert Artists  Guild (New York) International Auditions, also in 2021.  

Highlights this season include returns to the Wigmore Hall, Vancouver Recital  Society, Miami International Piano Festival and Nottingham International Piano  Series, as well his debuts with the Frankfurt Alter Oper as part of their debut  concert series and at Merkin Hall in New York.  

On the concerto platform Ariel has appeared with various orchestras, including the  Israel Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva and  City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the latter of which he will return to this  season for a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C Major, K. 503.  

Future notable engagements include his debut with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra  at the Grafenegg Festival, and a tour to China.  

An avid chamber musician, Ariel has collaborated with leading members of the  Berliner Philharmoniker and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, as well as with  eminent musicians such as Maria João Pires, Marina Piccinini, Charles Neidich,  and Torleif Thedéen. Recent highlights have included projects at the Wigmore  Hall, Homburg MeisterKonzert series in Germany, the Menton Festival in France,  Perth Concert Hall (broadcast by BBC Radio 3), and across the UK including the  Brighton and Bath Festivals. Ariel also recorded with the Mozarteumorchester  Salzburg under the auspices of the Orpheum Stifftung as part of their Next  Generation Mozart Soloist series, and gave recitals at the Kissinger Sommer,  Fundaçion Juan March in Madrid, and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.  

Ariel regularly appears in concerts broadcasts on Israeli radio & television and on  Radio France, and has recorded live concerts for the Vancouver Recital Society and  Banco de la República Colombia.  

In 2021 Linn Records released his recording of music by Schubert to critical  acclaim, with future releases also planned in the coming seasons. 

Born in Jerusalem in 1997, Ariel studied with Lea Agmon and Yuval Cohen.  Based in London, he recently completed his studies at the Royal Academy of  Music with Hamish Milne and Ian Fountain. He has received extensive tuition  from eminent artists such as Robert Levin, Murray Perahia, Imogen Cooper, Leif  Ove Andsnes, Steven Osborne, and the late Leon Fleisher and Ivan Moravec.  Awards include 1st Prize at the 2018 Grand Prix Animato Competition in Paris and  1st Prize in the Dudley International Piano Competition, as well as a finalist award  at the Rubinstein Competition. 

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