Itamar Erez
 

"The music really catches fire...Erez stretches out, using his impressive instrumental technique to great effect..."

(Songlines Magazine- 2010)

Itamar's music holds a depth and sensitivity that touches listeners deeply. 

It blends the delicateness of Middle Eastern music, the freedom found in jazz and the passion of flamenco, creating a unique sound all his own.

 

Recipient of the 2014 ACUM Prize for Special Achievement in Jazz and the prestigious 2014 Landau Prize, Itamar Erez is an internationally renowned composer and guitarist who has shared the stage with such musicians as Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Tomatito, Avishai Cohen, Jean-Louis Matinier, Zohar Fresco, and others.

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Itamar has released two CDs with his quartet The Adama Ensemble: “Desert Song” (2006) & “Hommage” (2010). “New Dawn” (2013), is a duet collaboration with Yshai Afterman (percussion), with special guest Antonio Serrano (harmonica). 

His most recent CD  “Mi Alegria” was released in June 2019, with special guests Hamin Honari (percussion), Ilan Salem (flute), Celso Machado (percussion) and others. Itamar performs internationally and gives workshops and masterclasses, teaching his unique approach to music and guitar playing.

 

In recent years, Itamar performed in Canada, USA, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Cyprus, Israel, India, Tunisia, Colombia & Surinam. Itamar made his Carnegie Hall (NY) debut Apr 2018 performing with the Omar Faruk Tekbilek Ensemble with Ara Dinjkian & Brian Keane as special guests.

 

Among the venues and festivals that Itamar played throughout his career were: Barbican Hall (London UK), Sydney Opera (Sydney, Australia), the Jerusalem Jazz Festival (Israel), Oman Opera House, The Megaron (Athens, Greece), Schauspielhaus Leipzig (Germany), Amsterdam Jewish Music Festival (Holland), the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, and others.

 

Itamar is currently working on new material for his next CD, and is on the guitar faculty at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School Of Music. His new book “Exercises & Etudes, an Advanced Method for the Fingerstyle Guitarist” was released March 2016.