Alon Yavnai
Alon Yavnai
Alon was born & raised in Israel, in a multicultural household. His mother came from Argentina, and his father is from Israel. Although his parents were not professional musicians, his father played accordion, and his mother played the piano. There was always a piano at home, music was always present, and he had strong support at home to immerse entirely in music. Alon’s exposure to music from all corners of the globe is something he has been cultivating since a very early age. He started taking piano lessons when he was 5, and graduated the Thelma Yalin high school for the arts, and the Gyvataim conservatory.
Alon came to The United States in 1993 at the age of 23, after living two years in Costa Rica, where he had a piano trio, and collaborated with different artists.
Since in the US He had attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, where later on he taught for four years. While living in Boston he had recorded my sextet album, D.S. Al Coda, recorded for film music, and traveled worldwide.
Alon moved to New York in 2001 and started playing piano regularly with saxophonist & clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera. At the same time, he kept recording & performing his own music, and had the opportunity to perform with such artists as Freddie Hubbard, Yo-Yo Ma, Nancy Wilson, Rosa Passos, Tom Harrell, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Regina Carter, Bob Moses, Louis Hayes & the New York Voices.
At about the same time Alon started recording and performing his original compositions & arrangements with the NDR Bigband, based in Hamburg, Germany. This collaboration became a long-term relationship, which produced an album that was released in 2012 and another album coming up this year, featuring singer/songwriter & percussionist Joca Perpignan, his partner in the ALON & JOCA duo project.