Ofra Harnoy (born January 31, 1965, Hadera, Israel) is a Canadian cellist.
She moved with her family to Toronto in 1971. When she was six, she began cello lessons with her father, Jacob Harnoy. Her teachers include Vladimir Orloff , William Pleeth , Pierre Fournier, Jacqueline du Pré, and Mstislav Rostropovich.
Harnoy made her professional debut as a soloist with orchestra at age ten. Her solo-orchestral and recital debuts at Carnegie Hall in 1982 brought her public and critical acclaim.
She performed and recorded the world premier of the Offenbach Cello Concerto in 1983 and the North American premiere of the Bliss Cello Concerto in 1984. She also made the world premier recordings of several Vivaldi concertos.
Awards
- winner of a number of major Canadian competitions
- 1982 Concert Artists Guild award in New York
- 1983 Young Musician of the Year by Musical America Magazine
- both 1987/88 and and 1988/89 Juno Awards for Best Classical Soloist
- 1988 Grand Prix du Disque
- several “Best of the Year” and “Critic’s Choice” awards for her recordings from Gramophone magazine, High Fidelity magazine and Ovation magazine.
- in 1995 she was made a Member of the Order of Canada
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