Gilead Mishory was born in 1960 in Jerusalem. He began to play piano when he was nine, but only at the age of twenty-one, after leaving the instrument for three years, he decided to dedicate himself exclusively to music. After graduating from the Rubin Academy, he moved to Germany in 1984. On the recommendation of Alfred Brendel he received scholarships from the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, the City of Munich and the Austrian government. These enabled him to complete his studies in Munich with Gerhard Oppitz and in Salzburg at the «Mozarteum» with Hans Leygraf. He also studied musicology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich.
Even at the beginning of his concert career, Gilead Mishory distinguished himself as a profound pianist whose playing is full of character and individuality. As a professor at the renowned Freiburg University of Music, his pedagogical activity has expanded all over the world. For the past twenty-five years he has been composing on a regular basis, gaining him increasing acclaim and interest.
Mishory has performed solo, with orchestras and with renowned chamber music partners, in Europe, the United States, East Asia and Israel. His extremely wide-ranging repertoire includes all musical styles, with a special emphasis on the music of the 20th and 21st centuries.
His individuality and the unconventional pairings in his programs have been popular with audiences and critics alike. Projects like «Fin du Siècle», which was broadcast live throughout Europe at the turn of the millennium, the «Moon Concert», first performed at the Schleswig Holstein Festival, or the combination of Schubert with his own compositions have attracted wide notice.
«Magic we only know from the old masters»
Mishory is the first pianist to have recorded the complete piano works and chamber music with piano by Leoš Janáček. The following CDs with works by Haydn, Brahms, Schubert, Bartók, his own compositions and numerous radio recordings have been enthusiastically reviewed in the press: The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung called him a «magician of sound»; The Neue Zeitschrift für Musik spoke of a «technically perfect poet of the piano» ; the Neue Presse described him as a «pianist with a sense of sound, charm and esprit»; The Westdeutsche Zeitung found in his playing «magic we only know from the old masters». The press reacted with the same enthusiasm also on Mishory’s recording of the complete «Préludes» by Debussy, published 2014. Klassikinfo Spoke of a «reference-recording». His youngest CD, «To Aeneas», with his own cycle under the same title, as well as Sonatas by Clementi and Tartini, came out 2017 and has been rewarded with highest compliments of the critics.
Breakthrough as a composer
The cycle «Lider-Togbukh», after Yiddish poems by Sutzkever, commissioned by the City of Munich, was Mishory’s breakthrough as a composer in 1998. His affinity for literature as a source of inspiration is evident i.a. in the «Hebrew Ballads» after Else Lasker-Schüler, in «Fugitive Pieces» based on the novel by Anne Michaels, in the «Psalm» string quartet after Paul Celan, or «Di vayte haymat mayne» for tenor and orchestra, based on poems by Marc Chagall. He finished his first opera, «Isaac’s Youth», in 2010. In 2011, a first CD with his works was released by NEOS. «Peer-Music-Classical» has already published «Lider-Togbukh» and «To Aeneas». Among the most recent compositions of 2021-2022 are: «AdamaAdamDamAdamAdama» for choir a cappella, «Six Tantrums» and «Space Voyages» for cello solo, «Escape. Refuge?» for violin and piano, «Rosas y Ángeles», as well as the book for young people: «My Crazy Piano Teacher» for piano solo.
As an educator
Gilead Mishory devotes a great deal of his energy to pedagogical activities. In 1998 he was appointed professor at the «Hochschule für Musik» in Dortmund. Since 2000 he has been senior professor at the renowned Freiburg University of Music, as the successor of Seemann, Levin and Béroff. He is regularly invited to give masterclasses and workshops all over the world. Many of his students have become well known performers and teachers. Many children all over the world play pieces from his Children’s books «My Grandpa and I» and «My Grandma and I». Those two books are going to be published soon by «Peermusic Classical».
Webseite: www.mishory.de
