Iris Jortner, cellist, a native of Israel, has performed in important venues in Israel, Europe, China, Australia, and the United States. Iris has collaborated in chamber music performances with Yefim Bronfman, Michael Tree, Itamar Golan, Levon Chilingrian, Belcea Quartet, the Orion Quartet, the Avalon Quartet, and the Apple Hill Chamber Players. She was a member of the Aviv Quartet from 1997-2002; with the Quartet she won the first prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition and top prizes in competitions in Holland and Prague. She has recorded for Naxos and Live Classics, and taught at the University of Virginia and Queens College in NYC.
Iris has performed in numerous festivals including Verbier, Banff, Tanglewood, Taos, Prussia Cove, Dubrovnick, Kfar Blum, Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, and has performed in important venues such as Carnegie Hall, Vienna Concert House, Köln Philharmonic Hall, and Wigmore Hall. Her teachers include Uri Vardi, Aldo Parisot, Bernard Greenehouse, Paul Katz, Timothy Eddy, Marcy Rosen, and members of the Alban Berg Quartet. She has been principal cellist of the Israel Chamber Orchestra, and performs regularly with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the 21st Century Ensemble. She is artistic director of Roosevelt Island Concerts. This year she performed Marie Jaell’s cello concerto with the Campus orchestra, and is acting principal cellist for the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.