Celebrated Israeli pianist performs with PSO Oct. 18-20
'An immersive and intimate experience'
Israeli pianist Tom Borrow will make his Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra debut in two different programs Oct. 18 through Oct. 20 at Heinz Hall.
A native of Tel Aviv, Borrow, 24, will perform Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G on the mainstage Friday and Sunday, and on Saturday he will be featured with a virtuoso group of musicians in an intimate, limited-seating chamber concert.
“Ravel’s concerto is Tom’s signature work and so we are particularly excited to bring him here for his debut weekend,” said Mary Persin, PSO vice president of artistic planning. “His chamber performance will launch this season’s very beloved PSO360 series, ‘Among Friends.’”
Borrow will begin the evening with associate concertmaster Justine Campagna in a Mozart Sonata for violin and piano. PSO string players will then present Grieg’s Holberg Suite. Borrow and a quartet of PSO musicians (two violins, a viola and a cello) will close out the evening with Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A Major, Opus 81.
The audience will be seated around the musicians just a few feet away for “an immersive and intimate experience,” Persin said. “And every seat is fantastic.”
Because the PSO360 format includes special commentary about the program throughout the evening, Borrow and a few of the other musicians will speak directly to the audience.
“They will share their thoughts on the pieces they perform and their personal connections to them,” Persin said. “It’s a very special night up close to the music and the musicians.”
Guests also will be invited to attend a special “Meet the Artists” reception after the concert.
Borrow debuted in the U.S. with the Cleveland Orchestra in December 2021, and was promptly named New Artist of the Month by Musical America.
“The Cleveland Orchestra is one of most renowned in the world,” Persin said. “Incredible accolades came out of that appearance.”
Borrow also was named a BBC New Generation Artist for 2021-23, and performed during his two-year tenure with all BBC orchestras at Wigmore Hall and other venues, and on multiple BBC broadcasts.
“Those are some of highest honors and awards an artist can receive, particularly a young artist,” Persin said.
Borrow shot to fame at 19 when he was called upon to replace the renowned pianist Khatia Buniatishviliin in a series of 12 concerts with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. With just 36 hours’ notice, he performed Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G to critical and public acclaim.
“That’s the kind of break every young artist is always looking for,” Persin said. “You can do all you can to build technical prowess but you need someone to take a chance on you, and those opportunities sometimes come at unexpected moments.”
The chief music critic of the Israel Broadcasting Corporation, Yossi Schifmann, called Borrow’s performance “brilliant…outstanding,” and ended his review with the words “Tom Borrow is already a star and we will all surely hear more about him.”
Borrow has performed as a soloist with all major orchestras of his native country, including the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Symphony Orchestra. He began studying piano at age 5 with Michal Tal at the Givatayim Music Conservatory, and currently studies with Tomer Lev of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University.
Borrow has been regularly mentored by Murray Perahia through the Jerusalem Music Centre’s program for outstanding young musicians.
He has won every national piano competition in Israel, including first prize at the Israeli Radio & Jerusalem Symphony Young Artist Competition in Jerusalem, and three first prizes in three different age categories at the “Piano Forever” Competition in Ashdod.
In 2018, he won the prestigious “Maurice M. Clairmont” award, given to a single promising artist once every two years by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and Tel Aviv University.
Borrow is the first artist in the PSO’s 2024-25 season themed ‘Listen Up,’ which will feature outstanding artists making their Pittsburgh debut.
“Our vision is to spotlight this generation’s most dynamic and imaginative creators as they step to the Heinz Hall stage for the very first time,” Persin said, noting that it could be someone quite young at the start of their career or an artist much further along who hasn’t yet come to Pittsburgh. “One of the most thrilling aspects of my job, together with Music Director Manfred Honeck, is to always be on the lookout for the most exceptional talent and identify star artists when they are on their rise.”
Borrow, she said, is intriguing. “I’m taken by the range of what he can do. The Ravel piano concerto is his signature piece and provides the perfect vehicle for him to showcase his incredible versatility.
“It calls on the artist to use the full range of colors and requires technical wizardry, and at the same time, a real nuance and poetry. It needs a brilliant virtuoso who can dazzle at the keys, yet also reveal an intimacy and soulfulness.”
The concerto has it all, Persin said. “It’s splashy, dynamic and even includes some nods to the Jazz Age. I can’t wait to see what Tom, together with our amazing Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, will do.” PJC
Deborah Weisberg is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.
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