Nitai Hershkovits (born February 21, 1988) is an Israeli Jazz pianist and composer. He is mostly known from collaborating with international bassist and composer Avishai Cohen in the studio and on tour。 　　Born in Israel, Nitai started playing the Clarinet at the age of 12, only to discover his love for the Piano at 15. He was then exposed for the first time to the Piano playing of Jazz pianists Wynton Kelly and Sonny Clark. 　　Nitai moved to Tel Aviv at the age of 17,combining regular school with external music and piano lessons with Jazz educators Amit Golan and Yuval Cohen; He has soon began listening to a wide range of both Classical and Jazz music at that time. Nitai also studied both classical music and theory for two years under the guidance of well-known Israeli composer and educator Dr. Menahem Weisenberg and classical music educators Shoshana Cohen and Amir Pedorovits. 　　itai has performed and collaborated with many noted artists; among them Jorge Rossy, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Greg Tardy, Charles Davis, Mark Guiliana, Zohar Fresco, Avi Lebovich, Daniel Zamir, and flutist Ilan Salem. 　　He was awarded with the highest scholarship given by the Israel-American Music Foundation on four occasions in a row between the years of 2004 and 2010. Another highlight was Nitai’s onetime prestigious Chase Scholarship award in 2009 sponsoring a B.A. degree in the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music. 　　Nitai has been enjoying working largely all over the world and in the last few years performing at many different venues such as Salle Pleyel, Konzerthaus Wien, l'Olympia Paris, Alter Oper Frankfurt, North Sea Jazz Festival, Antibes Jazz Festival, Jazz à Vienne, Montreux Jazz Festival, Barbican Center and Tonhalle, to name a few. 　　“I was attracted to the piano first of all because of the huge amount of possibilities it has", says Nitai. "For example: when I play something with my right hand, I actually have the opportunity to define it with my left hand. I felt I could try things rhythmically, harmonically and melodically, that I couldn’t do on many other instruments". 　　Nitai has been collaborating in the studio with international bassist and composer Avishai Cohen. Avishai released his album Duende (EMI / Blue Note) in May 2012. Nitai joins Avishai on this beautiful duet album performing piano and also arranging two of the tracks. In November 2013, the CD Almah (EMI / Parlaphone) was released, featuring a string quartet and an oboe. The last recording From Darkness is again with the Trio and has been released in February 2015. The release of From Darkness will see Nitai perform with Avishai on stage worldwide throughout 2015-2016. 　　Quotes 　　"Nitai’s playing and musicianship has never stopped evolving over the years: he has the soul of a man with experience but is in the body of a 27 year old boy! His technical skills are mind-blowing, but this is nothing compared to his expressive capabilities and he doesn’t take the easy way. He belongs with those musicians who express themselves deeply through their art.” (Avishai Cohen) 　　"Nitai’s playing over 'A Child Is Born”- the best piano solo ever recorded on my albums" (Avishai Cohen) 　　"Right away I noticed the magic he had in his playing, the kind of spark I have only heard from a few musicians in my life…he was swinging so hard I was left with no choice; I had to play with him.” (Avishai Cohen) 　　"Hershkovits tänzelt mit der Eleganz eines Fred Astaire und dem melancholischen Witz eines Charlie Chaplin über die Tasten." (Cem Akalin, Generalanzeiger Bonn, 19.01.2015) 　　"Nitai’s show was the last one out of three at the Israeli Piano Festival. How wonderful was it to discover his unique sound among all the others. He played his own compositions- very original and beautiful pieces. As part of his affection for the music of Thelonious Monk, he played a fantastic and full-of-humour version of Pannonica- which probably would get Monk’s approval on the spot!“ (Ben Shalev) 　　"The remarkable 24-year-old Tel Aviv pianist Nitai Hershkovits, is a reminiscent of a silky-toned old piano swinger such as the late Hank Jones” (John Fordham, The Guardian) 　　"Hershkovits is a genuine prodigy – still only in his mid-20s but already playing with relaxed authority” (BBC Music)