Dina Joffe

(Israel)

Originally from Riga, Latvia, pianist Dina Joffe studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow as a pupil of Vera Gornostaeva, one of the most important proponents of the Heinrich Neihaus school of pianism.

In 1974 she took second prize at the International Schumanns Competition in Zwickau, Germany, and in the following year she won the silver medal at the pres tigious Chopins Competition in Warsaw, Poland.

Since 1989 Dina Joffe and her husband, violinist Michael Vaiman, resided in Tel Aviv, Israel.Dina Joffe's profound and subtle interpretations have kept the critics searching for superlatives. From the very beginning of her career, reviews have included expressions such as "a unique talent", "the fascination of a master", "a genius", and a virtuoso". The public has responded to her "highly intelligent and deeply felt interpretation" with "beguilement", "enthusiasm", and "utterly frenetic applause".Dina Joffe's concert engagements have taken her to many different countries; in recent years she has appeared as piano soloist and in recitals together with her hus­band in the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Russia, Israel, the Ukraine, and Hungary.

Among the high points of her international career were concerts with outstanding orchestras such as the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, the Japanese Radio Orchestra (N.H.K.) under Neville Marriner, the Moscow Philharmonic under Valerie Gergiev, and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. In the course of the Chopin Festival in Japan, Dina Joffe gave six piano recitals with different programs in each of the cities Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Sapporo. The concert series was filmed and broadcasted by Japanese National Television.

In the 1996/97 concert season, she will be performing in Japan as soloist with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1996 she will be giving a number of concerts in Europe as well.Dina Joffe is professor of piano at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. She is currently teaching as a guest professor at the National Aichi University of Fine Art and Music in Nagoya (Japan).

In the past few years she has held master courses in Portogruaro, Italy (1994); at the Stolarsky School of Music in Odessa, the Ukraine (1994); and at the State Academy of music in Karlsruhe, Germany (1995).

Dina Joffe has numerous radio and commercial recordings to her credit. Her performance on CD of Frederic Chopin’s 24 Preludes (VD-VDC-1334) or 19 Waltzes and the Fantasie in F-Minor (CD-VICC-63) are considered to be consummate interpretations.