Ronn Yedidia’s compositions have been commissioned and performed worldwide by numerous soloists, ensembles, and orchestras, and have captivated audiences and critics alike. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra gave the world premiere of his work Steps In The Wonderland in May, 2007. Major commissions have included the San Antonio International Piano Competition, the Seattle Chamber Music Society, and the Zamir Chorale of New York.
Yedidia holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in composition from the Juilliard School where he was the recipient of the Lincoln Center Scholarship, the Irving Berlin Scholarship, the Henri Mancini Prize, and the Richard Rodgers Scholarship. He also won the Juilliard Composition Competition twice — in 1987 and 1989 — and received the Milton Babbitt Prize. In addition to his many international awards, Yedidia has won special grants from both ASCAP and BMI, and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship.
Many of his compositions have been recorded by renowned artists and ensembles and released on major recording labels, including SonyBMG, EMI Classics, Centaur, and Naxos’ American Classics series. His solo piano album, Yedidia Plays Yedidia, was released by Britain’s Altarus Records and has galvanized the attention of numerous pianists and composers around the world.
He founded and directed the New York based series “21st Century Music and On,” which operated between 1992–2011, and for which he composed a large volume of chamber and vocal works.
Known for his wide versatility, Yedidia has composed and performed in a variety of mediums, including classical, jazz/fusion, pop song, dance, theater, and klezmer.
In his native country, Israel, he was a well-known child prodigy — equally gifted as a pianist and an accordionist, and later as a young composer. His exceptional piano gift became known when at the age of 8 he won First Prize at the Young Concert Artists’ Competition of Israel. His main teacher and mentor was Pnina Salzman — Israel’s first lady of the piano and a protege of Alfred Cortot.
In 1994 he was invited by Wanda Toscanini-Horowitz to edit and record the unpublished piano compositions by the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz, a project which was documented at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in Manhattan.
Yedidia is the founder of two virtuoso ensembles of different nature: the world/ethnic/contemporary quintet DanzaNova, in which he serves as an accordionist and composer and also arranges well-known ethnic tunes, and the crossover/fusion/jazz quartet Prophets — which records and performs all his music of that genre — where he is also the pianist.
Yedidia is a renowned classical piano pedagogue, and he has mentored some of the finest young piano talent in the tri-state area and in international festivals and workshops. His students frequently win top prizes in piano competitions in New York and in New Jersey. He has served as Chairman of the piano department at the Bloomingdale School of Music in New York between 1993–1998, and as Vice President and Program Director of the Piano Teachers Congress of New York between 2001–2004. In 2005 he founded the New York Piano Academy on Manhattan’s upper west side together with his jazz partner, Haim Cotton.
Yedidia’s music is printed and distributed by his individual publishing company, Verse Music, in affiliation with BMI. He most recently signed an exclusive publishing contract with the new Japanese publishing house Muse Press for the publication and distribution of his solo piano compositions.
Albums
Ronn Yedidia: 24 Preludes of Dusk & Dawn
Catalog Number: TROY1988
On 24 PRELUDES OF DUSK & DAWN, acclaimed pianist Gila Goldstein artfully harnesses the emotions of the piano to bring Ronn Yedidia’s compositions to life. Written between April 2020 and March 2021 amidst the lockdowns and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, Yedidia took this time of inward reflection and isolation to compose works that remain soulful and uplifting as they pay homage and tribute to his mentors, inspirations, and loved ones. Goldstein’s textured and colorful performance finds a perfect match with the composer’s expert command of the piano’s tonal possibilities and knack for pleasant accessibility, striking a poignant balance between somber remembrance and the comfort of hope.