Pianist Efi Hackmey is Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Chiarina Chamber Players, a chamber music concert series and flexible ensemble in Washington, DC, founded in 2015. A recipient of a prestigious 2020 Classical Commissioning grant from Chamber Music America, Chiarina has won critical acclaim for its artistry and innovative programming, called “some of the most compelling chamber programs in town” by the Washington Post.
Efi has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Rose Studio, the Kennedy Center and Bargemusic, and in the Friends of Mozart series. In his native Israel he performed as soloist with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, as well as at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Jerusalem Music Center, and in special concerts presented by the Arthur Rubinstein International Music Society. His recordings include a 2013 album on the Naxos label, which includes several world premiere recordings (Polish Violin Music with violinist Kinga Augustyn). Efi is often featured on WETA Classical’s Front Row Washington. He has been praised for his “highly personal, thought-through interpretation” (Polish Weekly) and “feather-light pianism” (Washington Classical Review).
Efi is also interested in reaching out to new audiences, and in this context he has toured west Texas, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Maryland and North Carolina as part of his collaboration with the Piatigorsky Foundation. On these tours he performed with cellist Evan Drachman and soprano Raquela Sheeran in high schools, public libraries, retirement communities and more.
Efi has served on the piano faculty at DePauw University, and he also taught at the Indiana University system, Montgomery College in Rockville, MD, Levine School of Music, and Summertrios chamber music festival. He holds a Doctor of Music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and degrees in piano and conducting from Tel Aviv University. He studied with Menahem Pressler, Pnina Salzman and Dina Turgeman.