Born in Israel, Arie Vardi gave his first recital in Tel Aviv at the age of 15.
He studied at the Tel Aviv Rubin Academy of Music with Neima Rosh and Olina Vincze-Kraus and at the same time completed a law degree at Tel Aviv University.

Later he studied piano, composition and conducting with Boulez and Stockhausen. In 1960 he won the Chopin Competition in Israel and made his first appearance with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. A year later he won the Enescu Competition in Romania. Since then he has appeared with all the Israeli orchestras, in recitals and chamber music concerts. He has toured Europe, North and South America, Africa, The Far East and Australia, playing under the baton of conductors such as Paul Paray, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, David Zinman, Semyon Bychkov and others.

He regularly appears as conductor and as soloist-conductor. He has served as juror at major international competitions and has recorded for international labels. Several of his records have won awards.

Arie Vardi is a professor at the Hochschule fur Musik in Hanover and at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, Tel Aviv University. Over 40 of his students have won first prizes at international competitions. He has created and presented more than 300 television programs, including the "Master Class" series and "Intermezzo with Arik". In 2004 he was awarded the Minister of Education Award for his life achievements.