Nir Erez, Principal Trombonist of the Israel Philharmonic since 2012, joined the orchestra in 2008 before the age of 20, while still serving in the IDF Band.
As a student, he was tutored by Daniele Morandini (Orchestra of La Scala, Milan), Joseph Alessi (New York Philharmonic Orchestra) and Ian Bousfield (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra), and took part in numerous master classes in Italy, Switzerland, Spain and USA. Over the years he has also received guidance from IPO musicians Micha Davis and Yigal Meltzer.
He started his music education at the age of 10 in Lod, where he was raised, playing with the Lod Youth Band, directed by Vladimir Flaxman and Nachman Yariv.
He was Principal Trombonist of the National Youth Orchestra, the Young Israel Philharmonic and the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Symphony Orchestra at Tel Aviv University.
In 2002-12 he was a recipient of America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarships and in 2012 he won the Audience Prize of the Aviv Competitions.
Nir Erez was invited by the Mozart Orchestra under Claudio Abbado to play as Guest Principal Trombonist at the Lucerne Festival and in recordings. He was also invited to lead the trombone section of the La Scala Orchestra in opera productions, concerts and on tours.
Nir Erez teaches trombone at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Symphony Orchestra at Tel Aviv University, the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and the Thelma Yellin School, and gave several master classes in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Greece.
He is a member of the Israel Philharmonic Brass Quartet, with whom he has performed in Israel and abroad, including at Carnegie Hall and in Uruguay, USA and Japan. He frequently plays with the Israel Contemporary Players, with whom he gave a solo appearance at the 2017 Israel Festival.
Nir Erez has performed Haram (2017), a solo piece written for him by Ziv Slama with the support of the Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts, which presents a new Eastern-Western musical language and the wide capabilities of the trombone. He has appeared as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic.