Elisha Abas

Elisha Abas was born in 1971 in Jerusalem

Elisha Abas was born in Jerusalem on December 10, 1971. His father is the children's author Shlomo Abas, and he is a great-great-grandson of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. He grew up in Hod HaSharon.

He began piano lessons at age 4 at the Jerusalem conservatory, and at age 6 he moved to study with Pnina Salzman. He also had the mentorship of Artur Rubinstein. At age 11 he appeared at Carnegie Hall with Leonard Bernstein.

At age 14 he stopped playing music. He had played in the youth teams of Hapoel Petah Tikva under coach Avram Grant, and at 18 he became a professional footballer. He later played for Hapoel Kfar Saba, Maccabi Ahi Nazareth, Ironi Rishon LeZion and Hapoel Hadera.

After leaving football he earned a bachelor's degree in law and contacted Pnina Salzman to return to the piano. He went back to performing worldwide, including at Carnegie Hall. In 2009 he played his own music in Saint Petersburg and Havana, and in 2010 he released a live recording of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 made in Berlin.