Pianist Tali Morgulis is a passionate performer and a dedicated pedagogue. Prize winner of several international competitions, Morgulis continues to present critically acclaimed solo, chamber music and orchestral performances worldwide and champions living composers with regular commissions and performances of new pieces. She has premiered works by Marcus Maroney, Lei Liang and Finola Merivale and her concert repertoire also includes many lesser known gems of composers past and present. Her most recent performances have championed works by women composers. Morgulis has shared the stage with such renowned musicians soprano Albina Shagimuratova, cellist Misha Quint, violinist Uri PIanka, mezzo-soprano Sonja Bruzauskas and many others.

Morgulis’ students come from many different countries and backgrounds. They describe her as a great motivator and an inspiring mentor. She takes pride in supporting not only their performance and teaching but also in becoming important members of their respective communities. She began her college teaching career at Fort Hays State University, KS in 2005 and is currently an Associate Professor of Piano at the Moores School of Music, University of Houston, TX. Margolis is passionate about learning how music affects every stage and aspect of human life and co-created and taught an interdisciplinary course on the intersection of music and cognitive science in 2019 with psychologist Dr. Gregory Beaulieu.

Her music education began in her native Ukraine at age 4 and she continued studying piano after moving to Israel at age 15. Morgulis holds degrees in piano performance from Tel Aviv Academy of Music (BM and MM), the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA (DMA) and diplomas from the Manhattan School of Music and the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. She was fortunate to study with such wonderful musicians as Esther Balasha, Mikhail Boguslawski, Wha Kyung Byun, Lev Natochenny, Alexander Gorin (organ) and Patricia Zander (chamber music).

Program:
“Dancers in the Vineyards” is an eclectic program centered around a world premiere of a work by Israeli composer Alona Epshtein. It includes piano works by other Jewish composers, past and present.

Alona Epshtein’s imaginative works received the most prestigious prizes in Israel and have been performed all over the world. Her new set of variations, which premiered in Houston, TX in March 2025, is dedicated to the victims of the Nova Party massacre in Israel on October 7. It is scored for one pianist on two pianos (one regular and one prepared.)

Alona Epshtein on her work: “Since October 7, 2023, our lives have been changed irrevocably. Our worst fears became a reality. Evidence of those who survived is now a permanent part of our collective experience. No one can unsee the images or escape the knowledge of what took place.”

The life-affirming counterpart of Epshtein’s work on this program is Judith Shatin’s set of “Chai Variations”. It uses a gorgeous, brooding folk song, “Eliahu HaNavi,” as its theme. “Chai” is the Hebrew word for “Life” and this piece beautifully demonstrates why Judith Shatin was described as a “natural storyteller” by reviewers. Shorter and more lighthearted pieces by Paul Shoenfeld and George Gershwin complement these works.

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