Yotam Ben-Or

Yotam Ben-Or

Yotam Ben-Or is a NYC-based Israeli-Belgian harmonica player and composer. Ben-Or was born and raised in a small village called Nataf in the Jerusalem area. He started playing the harmonica at the age of 11, taught by his uncle.
After graduating high school, Ben-Or moved to Tel-Aviv to attend the collaborative program of the Tel-Aviv Conservatory and The New School for jazz studies (New York). During his studies, Ben-Or performed throughout Israel and shared the stage with Israel’s finest musicians, won the America-Israel Grant between 2014-2016, took the first prize in the Rostov International Jazz competition (Russia 2013) and recorded with his group “Jupiter” for the album “All Original – Best Young Israeli Jazz, presented by Avishai Cohen” (2013).
In August 2014, Ben-Or moved to NYC after winning a full scholarship to study at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music ,where he graduated in May 2016. In March 2015 he attended Betty Carter Jazz Ahead, directed by pianist Jason Moran. Since moving to NYC, Ben-Or has been intensively recording, performing around the city and touring the world with many different bands and artists, as well as with his own group. He is also subbing for his mentor, harmonica master Gregoire Maret.