Ezra Donner

At age sixteen, Ezra Donner left his hometown of Buffalo, New York, to pursue his dream of a life in music. In the decades since, he has traveled the world composing, performing, conducting, and teaching, with performances in Carnegie Hall and throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. Ezra is the composer of approximately 100 works for piano, large and small ensembles, and the theatre, and his music has been performed by the Chamber Orchestra of New York, New Voices Opera, Akropolis Reed Quintet, and Pittsburgh Camerata. He is also an avid visual artist and has produced over 250 drawings and paintings. 

Ezra has received awards and recognition from The American Prize Competition, The Respighi Prize Competition, the Music Teachers National Association, and the 2nd Annual G. Gershwin International Music Competition. He was a composer fellow at Brevard Music Center, the John Duffy Institute for New Opera, Aberystwyth Musicfest, and the San Miguel de Allende Chamber Music Festival, and his choral music is published by See-a-Dot Music. He has also released numerous recordings of his own compositions and numerous other recordings for YouTube. 

Ezra has served as Music Director with Horizon Performing Arts since 2025 and has served as a conductor at Chicago Summer Opera in 2017. From 2015 to 2024, he was also a frequent Music Director with the University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society, leading performances of The Mikado, Patience, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Ruddigore, and The Yeomen of the Guard. He served as Music Director at the Birmingham Temple Congregation for Humanistic Judaism from 2017 to 2022, and at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Ypsilanti from 2023 to 2024. 

Ezra has served as a collaborative pianist at Interlochen Arts Camp, Miami Summer Music Festival, Windy City Musical Theatre, and Brooklyn Repertory Opera. He has also appeared as a piano soloist in recitals at Jewish Music Week in Toronto and at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. 

Ezra has been teaching music to children and adults since 2008. He served as an Associate Instructor of Music Theory at Indiana University from 2009 to 2014, and as part-time Music Faculty at Washtenaw Community College in 2020. He taught music theory at the Stella Royce Piano Camp in Grand Rapids in 2019 and currently maintains a private piano studio of over 30 students. 

Ezra is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and holds a Bachelor of Music degree with High Honors from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees from Indiana University. His teachers have included Claude Baker, Don Freund, P. Q. Phan, Christopher Harding, Michael Colgrass, Bright Sheng, and William Bolcom.