Atar Arad

Atar Arad was born in 1945 in Tel Aviv

Atar Arad was born on 8 March 1945 in Tel Aviv and grew up in Tel Baruch. He is the eldest son of painter Esther Peretz-Arad and sculptor and photographer Grisha Arad. His younger brother is designer Ron Arad.

He trained on the violin in Tel Aviv with Israel Amidan and earned an Artist Diploma in 1966. In 1968 he went to study at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium, finishing in 1971. He earned a diploma from the Brussels Conservatory in 1973.

In 1971 he turned to the viola, and in 1972 he won prizes at the Carl Flesch competition in London and first prize at the International Viola Competition in Geneva. From 1980 to 1987 he was a member of the Cleveland Quartet. He has played as a soloist with orchestras and at festivals in Edinburgh, Salzburg, Israel and elsewhere, and has recorded for several labels.

He teaches at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington and has taught at the Eastman School of Music and other schools. Since 1992 he has also composed, including a Sonata for Viola Solo and a Viola Concerto from 2005. He plays a viola by Nicolò Amati.