Lior Yekutieli

Lior Yekutieli was born in Israel in 1964. When he was 9 years old he started playing classical guitar. Three years later, Lior already gave live recitals, played as a soloist with the Israeli Chamber Orchestra and in varied TV and radio recorded concerts. During the same period, Lior won the American-Israel scholarship, with merits, on each year between 1975 and 1983. At the age of twenty, Lior started to explore Jazz music and developed his improvising and composing skills. In 1989, he traveled to the United States where he graduated the Musicians' Institute of Los-Angeles and recorded with leading musicians, among them the base player Jeff Berlin. Two years later he was invited to give Jazz concerts in Europe and stayed there for three years, during which he formed his own band, Exit, with Yiotis Kiourtsoglo (b) and Marc Halbheer (d). Together they’ve performed Lior’s compositions in different Jazz clubs across Europe. In 1992 Lior returned to Israel and worked with top singers while dedicating his free time to composing, recording two CD's of his original music with Exit, and touring with the band in Israel and Europe. https://open.spotify.com/album/1wqZC1u8M4kfzr9NlZXIn8 )Exit 1995) https://open.spotify.com/album/7m7XrtC1fGQB5EOl1H3kSC (Exit 2000) In 2000, Lior's composition for classical guitar, Moods, which includes a series of four pieces, was published by the Orphee Editions. https://www.amazon.com/Moods-Yekutieli-EDITIONS-ORPHEE-494-02504/dp/B00XID5YQ6 This composition reflects and expresses Lior's original style as well as his unique concept of classical guitar, based both on his classical background and his highly sophisticated Jazz playing. Another one of Lior's compositions, "Fairy Tales sonatina", was published by the Orphee Editions in 2010. https://www.jwpepper.com/Fairy-Tales-Sonatina/10423871.item#/submit Due to a serious hand injury Lior was unable to play the Guitar for almost ten years (between 2001 and 2010). After healing, in 2011 Lior gave a concert of his compositions at the Felicja Blumenthal Guitar Festival in Tel-Aviv, played on the 20th Exit anniversary in Zurich and at the 2013 Kozani Jazz festival in Greece. The same year he also took part as a soloist in a concert of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. In 2016 he gave concerts and master classes in India's "World Guitar Nights". In 2017 he featured in the "Fingerstyle Guitar Journal" and was invited to play in Albania's Jazz festival. By the end of 2018 Lior released his first solo album, "Finally alone" https://open.spotify.com/artist/1kht7yKHWqoNZJfgUIWRwb. During 2019 he gave solo concerts in different venues in Israel, among them a concert in “The International Guitar Festival" in Tel Aviv. In May 2019 he gave two concerts in Athens with his band Exit, celebrating their 30th anniversary. In June 2020 Lior released his 2nd solo album, "About Time". The album includes original compositions and favorite Jazz standards https://open.spotify.com/artist/1kht7yKHWqoNZJfgUIWRwb.