Arie Vardi launched his concert career at the age of 15 as the winner of the Chopin Competition in Israel and the George Enescu International Competition in Bucharest. He has appeared with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta, and has collaborated with other conductors such as Semion Bychkov, Sergio Commissiona, Gustavo Dudamel, Lukas Foss, Kurt Masur, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Paul Paray, David Robertson, Paul Sacher and David Zinman, among others. His concert tours have taken him to Europe, the United States, Latin America, the Far East and Australia. In 1992, his first Russian tour included performances in Moscow, St. Petersburg and several other cities.

Vardi performs regularly as soloist-conductor, playing the complete set of concerti by Bach and Mozart, part of which he has played on the Hammerflügel. He directed, conducted and played a series of five concerts with the Israel Chamber Orchestra. The series, entitled "The Piano Concerto", featured twelve concertos ranging from Bach to the 21st century. In the 2004-05 season he launched a new weekend series with the Israel Philharmonic, "Morning Intermezzo", where he serves as conductor and presenter.

He has been a jury member in many major international competitions, namely the Beethoven (Bonn), Beethoven (Vienna), Busoni (Bolzano), China, Chopin (Warsaw), Cleveland (Ohio), Cliburn (Texas), Gina Bachauer (Salt Lake City), Hamamatsu (Japan), Leeds (England), Dino Ciani (Milan), ARD (Munich), Paloma O'Shea in Santander (Spain), Scottish (Glasgow), Shenzhen (China), Shanghai, Sydney, Tchaikovsky (Moscow), Tokyo, Minneapolis and others. Vardi is currently the artistic advisor and chairman of the jury of the Arthur Rubinstein International Master Competition.

Vardi has held master classes and presented lecture recitals at many of the world's top conservatories. His recordings of Mozart concertos have included the Concerto for Three Pianos with Yefim Bronfman and Radu Lupu. Vardi teaches at the Hochschule für Musik Hannover, Germany, and at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv. 

In 2004, the Minister of Education Award was bestowed upon him for his lifetime achievement. In 2017, Vardi was awarded the Israel Prize.