Ofra Harnoy ( he, עופרה הרנוי; born January 31, 1965) is an

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

. She is a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. By joining the international artists roster of RCA Victor Red Seal, Harnoy became the first Canadian classical instrumental soloist since

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...

to gain an exclusive worldwide contract with a major record label. She is a five-time

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

winner.

Life

Harnoy was born in

Hadera Hadera ( he, חֲדֵרָה ) is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel, in the northern Sharon region, approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along 7 km (5&nbs ...

. She moved with her family to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in 1971. When she was six, she began cello lessons with her father, Jacob Harnoy. Her teachers included Vladimir Orloff,

William Pleeth William Pleeth OBE (12 January 1916 – 6 April 1999) was a well-known British cellist and an eminent teacher, who became widely known as the teacher of Jacqueline du Pré. Biography Early years William Pleeth was born in London. His p ...

Pierre Fournier Pierre Léon Marie Fournier (24 June 19068 January 1986) was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists" on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound. Biography He was born in Paris, the son of a French Army gen ...

Jacqueline du Pré Jacqueline Mary du Pré (26 January 1945 – 19 October 1987) was a British cellist. At a young age, she achieved enduring mainstream popularity. Despite her short career, she is regarded as one of the greatest cellists of all time. Her care ...

, and

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was wel ...

. Harnoy made her professional debut as a soloist with an orchestra at age 10. Her solo-orchestral and recital debuts at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

in 1982 brought her public and critical acclaim. Harnoy performed and recorded the world premiere of the Offenbach cello concerto in 1983 and the North American premiere of the

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...

cello concerto in 1984. She also made the world premiere recordings of several

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

concertos. In 1987, she joined the roster of

RCA Victor Red Seal RCA Red Seal is a classical music label whose origin dates to 1902 and is currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment. History The first "Gramophone Record Red Seal" discs were issued in 1901.Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

Igor Oistrakh Igor Davidovich Oistrakh (russian: И́горь Дави́дович О́йстрах; uk, Ігор Давидович Ойстрах 27 April 1931 – 14 August 2021) was a Soviet and Russian violinist. He was described by ''Encyclopædia Brita ...

Loreena McKennitt Loreena Isobel Irene McKennitt, (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her ...

, and

Jesse Cook Jesse Arnaud Cook is a Canadian guitarist. He is a Juno Award winner, '' Acoustic Guitar'' Player's Choice Award silver winner in the Flamenco Category, and a three-time winner of the Canadian Smooth Jazz award for Guitarist of the Year. He has ...

. In 2019, Harnoy released her latest album, ''Back to Bach'' on the Canadian Classical label Analekta. She is married to the trumpeter, producer, and composer Mike Herriott.

Awards

* Winner of a number of major Canadian competitions * 1982 Concert Artists Guild award in New York * 1983 Young Musician of the Year by Musical America Magazine * 1986-97

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

for Best Classical Album (Schubert Quintet in C) * 1988

for Best Classical Album (Schubert Arpeggione Sonata) * 1990

for Instrumental Artist of the Year * 1992

for Instrumental Artist of the Year * 1993

for Instrumental Artist of the Year * 1990, 1992, 1993 Juno Awards for Instrumental Artist of the Year * 1988 Grand Prix du Disque * Several “Best of the Year” and “Critic’s Choice” awards for her recordings from ''Gramophone'' magazine, ''High Fidelity'' magazine and ''Ovation'' magazine. * In 1995 she was made a Member of the

* Israeli classical cellists

Discography

* ''Back to Bach'' (2019) * ''Vivaldi: Complete Cello Concertos'' (2005) #Disc 1 with the Toronto Chamber Orchestra with Paul Robinson, conductor (also issued separately 2009 as Vivaldi: Cello Concertos, vol. 1 ##Concerto for Cello in D minor, RV 405 ##Concerto for Cello in C minor, RV 401 ##Concerto for Cello in B-flat, RV 423 ##Concerto for Cello in C, RV 399 ##Concerto for Cello and Bassoon in E minor, RV 409, with James McKay, bassoon ##Concerto Movement for Cello in D minor, RV 538 #Disc 2 with the Toronto Chamber Orchestra with Paul Robinson, conductor (also issued separately 2010 as Vivaldi: Cello Concertos, vol. 2 ##Concerto for Cello in D, RV 403 ##Concerto for Cello in B minor, RV 424 ##Concerto for Cello in A minor, RV 422 ##Concerto for Cello in C minor, RV 402 ##Concerto for Cello in F, RV 412 ##Concerto for Cello in G, RV 414 ##Concerto for Cello in D minor, RV 406 #Disc 3 with the Toronto Chamber Orchestra with Paul Robinson, conductor (also issued separately 2009 as Vivaldi: Cello Concertos, vol. 3 ##Concerto for Cello in F, RV 411 ##Concerto for Cello in D, RV 404 ##Concerto for Cello in A minor, RV 420 ##Concerto for Cello in D minor, RV 407 ##Concerto for Cello in G minor, RV 417 ##Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra in F, "Il Proteo o sia Il mondo al rovescio," RV 544, with

, violin #Disc 4 with the Toronto Chamber Orchestra with Richard Stamp (RV 418, RV 408, RV 416, RV 419, and RV 413) or Paul Robinson (RV 547), conductor (also issued separately 1997 as Vivaldi: Cello Concertos, vol. 4 ##Concerto for Cello in A minor, RV 418 ##Concerto for Cello in E-flat, RV 408 ##Concerto for Cello in G minor, RV 416 ##Concerto for Cello in A minor, RV 419 (world premiere recording) ##Concerto for Cello in G, RV 413 ##Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra in B-flat, RV 547, with

, violin * ''Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations, Music for Cello & Orchestra'' (1992) * ''Trilogy'' – cello concertos by I Solisti Veneti, Claudio Scimone and Ofra Harnoy (1993) * ''Imagine'' (1996)

Business Review Weekly ''BRW'' (formerly ''Business Review Weekly'') was an Australian business magazine published by the Fairfax Media group. The magazine was headquartered in Melbourne. It regularly compiled lists which rank corporations and individuals according to ...

: BRW 1996 "Israel-born Canadian Ofra Harnoy is a cello virtuoso who has crossed over with her Beatles tribute Imagine (RCA–Victor). The new Free as a Bird is lovely, ..." * ''Cello Recital'' (1980) (Masters Of The Bow)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harnoy, Ofra Canadian classical cellists Jewish classical musicians Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish Israeli musicians Members of the Order of Canada Musicians from Toronto Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year winners Israeli emigrants to Canada People from Hadera 1965 births Living people Canadian women classical cellists Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year – Solo or Chamber Ensemble winners