Eli Tamar

Born in Leningrad, Eli Tamar grew up in Israel, where he studied music theory, composition, and piano at the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. Among his teachers were Andre Hajdu, Itzhak Sadai, and Adam Stratievsky. Upon graduating with his M.M. he came to the USA at the invitation of the University of Pittsburgh to pursue a Ph.D. in composition, which he earned in 2000.
His compositions were featured in venues such as “De Boni Arte” Foundation series of sacred music and the Great Names in Art Charitable Foundation in Russia; Prokofiev Museum and Jurgensen Chamber Hall in Moscow; Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh; Prizm concerts in New York; U-3 New Music Festival; and others. He has composed for the Duquesne Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Ensemble, Russian “XX Century” chamber ensemble, Alia Musica, the Givatayim Duo, the Jerusalem Chamber Music Group, and more. In 2011 he composed the music and designed the sound for Leningrad, an independent film based on the award-winning novel of the same name by the Russian author Igor Vishnevetsky.
Tamar has received composition grants and fellowships from the Israeli Ministry of Culture, the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, the Mizrachi Foundation, Tel Aviv University, and the University of Pittsburgh. He was professor of Musicianship Studies for nine years at the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University. He served as piano instructor on the faculty at City Music Center, a nationally accredited music program for children at Duquesne. Prior to that, he taught piano classes and presented the course The Art of Creative Listening at the College of General Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Tamar was honored with the Teaching Excellence Commendation from the University of Pittsburgh, Who’s Who among American Teachers and Educators (2007), and was chosen as an elected member of the Pi Kappa Lambda – American Music honor society (2011).