Go to Bibliography of Biographies
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P-Q
R
S
T
U-V
W-X-
Y-Z

Online Biographies

A

Maurice Abravanel
American. Born, Jan. 6, 1903 in Salonika, Greece. Died, September, 1993. Brought up in Lausanne, Switzerland. At age 19, he went to Berlin where he studied music and theory with composer Kurt Weill. Became an assistant at the Mecklenburg Theatre and there developed a very remarkable baton technique. Conducted in Zwickau, Altenburg and Kassel. In 1933 and 1934 he conducted Monteux's Orchestre Symphonique de Paris, and at Ballet Russe. In 1936 he came to US and conducted the Metropolitan Opera. In 1938 he left the Met to conduct Broadway. After WWII, went to Australia to conduct the Sydney Symphony Society. A year later, accepted the post as Conductor of Utah Symphony, and remained there for 32 years. In 1949, received a Tony Award for conducting of Regina. 1970, served as a member of the first music panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. 1975, received Mahler Society Award for the best Mahler recording of that year. Appointed artist-in-residence for life at the Tanglewood Music Center in 1982. 1991, awarded the National Medal of the Arts. Abravanel's family were Sephardic Jews. He was a descendant of Don Isaac Abravanel, born in 1438, who, as finance minister to Queen Esabella of Spain, arranged funding for the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.
http://lib.music.utah.edu/abravanel.html

Joseph Achron
Achron, born 1886, Lodzdzieje, Poland (now Lasdjaj, Lithuania). Died, 1943, Los Angeles. Violinist, teacher and composer. His brother Isador was a pianist. A child prodigy and a concert soloist. He studied composition in Russia under Anatoly Ljadov. Toured widely, giving more than 1000 concerts between 1919-1922. Served as Head, and gave Violin Master classes in Leningrad's Artist Union. He joined the Society for Jewish Folk Music in 1911. In 1922 established a publishing company called "Jibneh" in Berlin. Traveled to Palestine in 1924, staying only a few months. In 1925, Achron emigrated to the U.S. and settled in New York. Worked for a short time rearranging Yiddish theater music for Maurice Schwartz. Taught violin at the Westchester Conservatory. In 1934, he moved to Hollywood, composing film music. As Albert Weisser points out in his landmark work The Modern Renaissance of Jewish Music, Joseph Achron in the United States was between two worlds: his Jewish compositions were generally too sophisticated for Jewish audiences of the day, and his Jewish ethnic music not of interest for general classical audiences that understood modern music. Weisser states: "Since his death his reputation has fallen into somwhat of an eclipse; however it is just about due for a revival." Some 50 years after Weisser wrote those words, Achron's revivial seems to be finally happening. The pianist Jascha Nemtsov has taken up the charge and produced some brilliant recordings of his works. As example: Ingolf Turban (violin) and Jascha Nemtsov (piano) play Hebrew Melodies which contains Achron's Hebrew Melody, Dance Improvisation, Hebrew Cradle Song, Fairy Tale (Agada), Scher, Canzonetta, Suite "Stempenyu". (Hänssler CLASSIC / SWR 2001). See also Nemtsov's CD's Edition Abseits / MDR 1999 and Edition Abseits / MDR 2000. Concerts in New York, Boston, London and Israel, to name a few, have also focused on the St. Petersburg composers, including Achron. Beth Hatefutsoth (Diaspora Museum) released a recording in 1998, (BTR 9801).
http://www.musica-judaica.com/achron_e.htm

Chaim Adler
Chaim Adler is Cantor at the Great Synagogue in Tel Aviv. His life and many photos from his various appearances around the world appear on this website. Website in English and German.
http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/chazanut/Adlerenglish.html

Samuel Adler
American. Born, Mannheim, Germany, March 4, 1928. Came to US, 1939. Studied composing with Herbert Fromm, Walter Piston, Randall Thompson, Paul Hindemith and Aaron Copland. B.M. from Boston University, M.A. from Harvard University, and honorary degrees of: Doctor of Music from Southern Methodist University, Doctor of Fine Arts from Wake Forest University, Doctor of Music from St. Mary's College (Indiana), and a Doctor of Music from Saint Louis Conservatory. Music Director at Temple Emanu-El, Dallas, Texas (1953-1966). Music director of the Dallas Lyric Theater (1954-1958). Professor of composition, North Texas State University (1957-1966). Professor of composition, Eastman School of Music (1966-1995). Chairman of dept., 1974-1995. Composed over 400 published works, including large scale works such as operas, symphonies and concerti, and for smaller forces, such as wind ensembles, band, choral works and chamber music. Widely published, Adler wrote several key contemporary books, such as The Study of Orchestration (1982, rev. 1989), Choral Conducting (1971), and Sight-Singing (1979, rev. 1997). While in the Army, he founded Seventh Army Orchestra and was awarded the Medal of Honor. Adler has won numerous prizes and honors, including an award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Adler has more than a dozen recordings of his music. His alma mater, BU had an interview with Adler: http://www.bu.edu/alumni/bostonia/2002/winter/adler/
and other websites cover his biography:
http://www.sai-national.org/phil/composers/sadler.html
http://personal.mia.bellsouth.net/r/v/rvrhodes/adler.html

Charles Valetin Alkan
French. Born Paris, 1813. Died 1888. Composer and pianist. The Charles V. Alkan Society website includes lists of upcoming concerts and talks, a discography, links and informaton about joining the society.
http://www.alkansociety.org/events.htm

David Amram
American. Composer, educator, French horn, piano, guitar. Degree from George Washington University in 1952. Composer-in-residence with the New York Philharmonic, 1966-67. Composed over 100 orchestral and chamber works. Scored Broadway musicals and films. Director of Young People's, Family, and Free Summer concert programs for the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Wrote a book: Offbeat: Collaborating With Kerouac (2002). Also plays a variety of folk instruments. Known for his work with jazzmen Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Charlie Mingus, Thelonius Monk and Lionel Hampton. The Washington Post hailed Amram as "one of the most versatile and skilled musicians America has ever produced." Amram's family were from Savannah, GA, but he grew up in Pennsylvania and Washington DC. Wrote The Sacred Servicein early 1960s. It was commissioned by the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York, where it had its premiere in 1962. Aamram lives in Putnam Valley, NY.
http://www.fmp.com/amram/

Archive of Israeli Music
While not providing full biographical descriptions, this finding aid to the Archive of Israeli Music at the Tel-Aviv University, David and Yolanda Katz Faculty of Arts, provides an excellent listing of Israeli musicians. It includes birth date and place of birth, major musical interests, a death date if any, when the person came to Israel, and a listing of major holding items in the archive. For an immediate, if modest, amount of biographical information for getting started with Israeli musicians, this listing is very helpful. The actual holdings in the Archive will, no doubt, reveal much more information about each composer and musician.
http://www.tau.ac.il/~musarch/list.html

Tzvi Avni
"Tzvi Avni is one of Israel's foremost composers whose works have been performed worldwide. A prominent lecturer and professor of theory, composition and electronic music, he is member of the faculty of the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music and Dance and one of the leading figures in Israel's music scene today." The website has a biography, a selected list of works and where they were published, a discography and audio samples.
http://www.tzvi-avni.com/

Emanuel Ax
Pianist. Born in Poland, 1949. In 1974,he won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. In 1979 won the Avery Fisher Prize in New York. Recorded with RCA for many years until 1987 when he went exclusive for SONY. Highly regarded in the concert world today.
http://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/ax/

B

Milton Babbitt
American. Born Philadelphia, 1916. Composer of Electronic music known as combinatoriality, "where segments of twelve-tone rows interact with segments of other rows with identical pitch classes." A nice biography of Babbitt appears on the The Computer-Assisted Music Instruction Lab webpage of University of Illinois, School of Music.
http://www-camil.music.uiuc.edu/Projects/EAM/babbitt.html

Milton Barnes
Milton Barnes, b. 1931, Toronto, d. February 26, 2001, Toronto, Canada. Jazz drummer and guitarist. Wrote chamber and orchestral music on Jewish themes; composed, orchestrated, and conducted scores for feature films and television. Composed in an "eclectic fusion style". They are "marvellous works of energy, depth, and compositional values." (Linda Litwack). A biography and sample works are available from the Canadian Music Centre.
http://www.musiccentre.ca/apps/index.cfm?fuseaction=composer.FA_dsp_biography&authpeopleid=843&by=B

Cantor Moshe (Murray) Bazian
Website devoted to the life and works of Cantor Bazian. Born in Kishinov, Bessarabia. Served Congregation Tifereth Israel in the Bronx. He later officiated at the Linas Hatzedek Synagogue and the Kingsbridge Heights Jewish Center. Moshe Bazian was Cantor at Congregation Shaarei T'filoh in Flushing. Site includes biography, pictures and mp3s of the cantor.
http://www.chazzan.org/

David Beigelman
Born, 1887, Lodz, Poland. Died, February, 1945, in slave labor camp, under Nazi occupation. Violinist, conductor, composer, and theater critic. Secret diaries found underground after the war mention Beigelman conducting the first symphonic concert in the Lodz Ghetto, March 1, 1941, followed by a concert for chorus and orchestra on March 13th. Deported to Auschwitz in 1944. Tsigaynerlid is a tribute to some of the Gypsies in the Lodz ghetto.
http://www.leonarda.com/compb.html

Ofer Ben-Amots
Israeli. Born: Haifa, Israel. Studied, Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland; Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany. University of Pennsylvania, Ph.D. in music composition. Vienna International Competition for Composers (1994). Ben-Amots won Aaron Copland Award and the Music Composition Artist Fellowship by the Colorado Council on the Arts (1999). "Dr. Ben-Amots is a member of the Advisory Board and the Editorial Board of the Milken Foundation American-Jewish Music Archive. In addition, he is a Jerusalem Fellow of the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity and its Artistic Director for North America since 1997." His webpage lists compositions, his publishers, performances and reviews.
http://www.oferbenamots.com

Paul Ben Haim (Frankenburger)
Israeli. Born 1897, Munich. Composer, pianist, conductor. After trying to start his career as a composer in Augsburg from 19224-31, he fled to Israel and settled in Tel Aviv in 1933. Ben Haim was part of the early musical pioneers establishing an "Israeli" national style. He won the Israel State Prize in 1957. While not well known outside Israel, Ben Haim's music is receiving a much deserved reevaluation on an international basis. He died in 1984. For more information on his work, see the book Twenty Israeli Composers: Voices of a Culture by Robert Fleisher.

Arthur Berger
American. Born in 1912 in New York. Died in Boston on October 7, 2003. Avant-garde composer. Studied at NYU and Harvard University. Focused in chamber and solo piano music. New York Music Critics Circle Citation, 1962. Won awards from Guggenheim, Fromm, Coolidge, Naumburg and Fulbright Foundations. Fellow of the American Academy & Institute of Arts and Letters. Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Taught at Mills College, 1939--1943. Taught at Brandeis University 1953-1980 as Irving Fine Professor of Music. Helped establish the graduate program at Brandeis. 2003 ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award.

Herman Berlinski
Herman Berlinski, the great composer of Jewish music, including synagogue organ music, was born in Leipzig on August 18, 1910. He studied piano, composition and conducting at the Leipzig Conservatory 1927-1932. He studied at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris from 1934-1938, and the Schola Cantorum from 1937-1939. He emigrated to the United States in 1941. This article explores some of his life and the performances of some of his music in Europe.
http://www.juedische-musik.de/synagoge/berlinski.htm

Lauren Bernofsky
Lauren Bernofsky is a composer and violinist living in Baltimore, MD, and educated at Hartt College, Boston University and the New England Conservatory. Her music has been published by several houses including Boosey & Hawkes.
http://laurenb.home.sprynet.com/index.htm

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
The official website of Leonard Bernstein includes... well everything. Very comprehensive. Includes a biography and a series of "time line" events.
http://www.leonardbernstein.com/

The Library of Congress Leonard Bernstein Collection
"This online Leonard Bernstein Collection makes available a selection of 85 photographs, 177 scripts from the Young People's Concerts, 74 scripts from the Thursday Evening Previews, and over 1,100 pieces of correspondence, in addition to the collection's complete Finding Aid." http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lbhtml/

Theodore Bikel
Theodore Bikel: actor, singer and political activist. Known for his portrayals of Tevye the Milkman in more than 2000 performances of Fiddler on the Roof. Bikel is an advocate of Yiddish folk song. Bikel has been active in organizations dealing with the arts, theatre, and the intersection with government, business and regulation. He has written an autobiography called Theo: The Autobiography of Theodore Bikel. His website includes biographical sketches, lecture topics, speeches, sound clips and a schedule.
http://www.bikel.com

Eyal Bitton
Canadian Composer. Born of Moroccan and German Jewish descent in Montreal, Canada on January 25, 1970. In 1971, his family and he moved to Kinshasa, Zaire where he attended TASOK (The American School of Kinshasa). He moved back to Montreal in 1978 and then attended United Talmud Torahs, Herzliah High School, Vanier College (DEC Pure & Applied Sciences), and McGill University (B.A. Jewish Studies). He has taught English at Ecole Maimonide and at College Francais. He served as President of the Sephardic Educational Center in Montreal, board member of the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, and YAD Co-Chair for Federation CJA Campaign 2001. He now lives in Toronto with his wife, Michèle Tredger. He is currently currently the Choir Director of Toronto's Beth Tikvah Synagogue Choir, formerly conducted by Srul Irving Glick. Eyal's choral compositions and arrangements have been performed in synagogues, churches, and concert halls in Montreal, Ottawa, New York, and Israel. He has conducted choirs for The Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue (Canada's first congregation), Adath Israel Poale Zedek , Jewish Peoples and Peretz Schools, La Chorale Kinor of the Communauté Sépharade Unifiée du Québec, and others. He has composed over 130 liturgical pieces, as well as Jewish themed oratorios and musicals.
http://www.eyalbitton.com/

Marc Blitzstein
The Marc Blitzstein website contains a biography, listing of complete works by genre, and photos about the composer. Many of these photos are recoganized as being held in the American Memory collection of the Library of Congress, but unfortunately, the site does not label or credit the photographs, so it is somewhat difficult to keep track... or these may be duplicates found in Wisconsin. The little search box didn't seem to work. However, there is an excellent discography, filmography, bibliography and information about accessing the Blitzstein archive in Wisconsin. Also valuable is a listing of publishers and rights holders to Blitzstein music. The archive "also contains extensive and rare recordings of Blitzstein's music, including many items which appear to have been made available only to the archive. These are available on reel-to-reel tape." The address is:
The State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Archives Division
816 State Street
Madison
Wisconsin, 53706
USA
Tele.: 608-264-6534; Fax: 608-264-6520
http://www.marcblitzstein.com/

Ernest Bloch
Born: July 24, 1880, Geneva, Switzerland. Died: July 15, 1959, Oregon, USA. A brief biography with a listing of works, a selected discography and some interesting links.
http://www.schirmer.com/composers/bloch_bio.html

Ernest Bloch
by Claude Torres, of Montpellier,France
"Discographie du compositeur suisse Ernest Bloch" The website includes a biography, a list of works by style, chronologically and alphabetically. There are also links to other important Bloch websites.
http://claude.torres1.perso.sfr.fr/Bloch/index.html

A Young Person's Guide to Ernest Bloch
This interesting site from Japan on the composer Ernest Bloch provides a "chronological list" which is a listing of important dates of the composer's life and a listing of compositions by the composer.
http://member.nifty.ne.jp/bloch/

Jerry Bock Papers
American. Composer of musicals. Born, 1928, NYC. Best known for his collaborations with Sheldon Harnick: Fiddler on the Roof and Fiorello!. NYPL papers include scores, correspondence, show production materials, and personal life papers.

Alexander Uriyah Boskovich
Some mention of the music teacher and composer who taught at the Israel Academy of Music in Tel Aviv.

C

Mario Castelnuevo-Tedesco
A very small site about the composer.
http://www.hnh.com/composer/castelnu.htm

Mario Castelnuevo-Tedesco
Born: April 3, 1895, Tuscany. Died: March 16, 1968, Beverly Hills, California. A brief biography of Mario Castelnuevo-Tedesco.
http://www.composerjohnbeal.com/Mario.html

Mario Castelnuevo-Tedesco
Papers of Mario Castelnuevo-Tedesco are held in the Library of Congress. Included are: "manuscript and printed music, programs, reviews of Castelnuovo- Tedesco's music, contracts, photographs and related materials. In addition, the collection includes correspondence from many of the 20th century's major musical figures..."
http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2000/00-114.html

Classical/Romantic/Modern Jewish Composers
Ilan Yaakov Yavor, a former student at the University of Wisconsin and a part time Hebrew teacher, put up a website dealing with Jewish composers. It's a great introduction to some of the names in Jewish music for students. However, I feel sure that Felix Mendelssohn never wore Tefilin, so, beware of some of the web tricks here.... but still fun for kids. Shows that students can create their own projects in Jewish music.....
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/1754/composers.html

Aaron Copland and the Landscape of Imagination
A brief biography on the life of Aaron Copland residing on the website of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Aaron Copland Collection at the Library of Congress
Part of the American Memories Project, this website includes links to the featured items in the Aaron Copland collections, including visual images and texts of personal letters, his own writings, his sketches and manuscripts of music, and photographs. An extensive and thorougly organized primary source on the music of Copland. Also includes an index and a search screen.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/achtml/achome.html

Copland House
The official Aaron Copland house website contains a biography with a timeline, a list of compositions and pictures of the composer in his home. Information about the new Copland Society, founded in 1996, is available.
http://coplandhouse.org/

Featured Subject: Aaron Copland
News and Reviews from the NY Times including a link to the first chapter of Howard Pollack's biograpy of Aaron Copland:The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man on the NY Times Book Reviews Archive. Also includes audio clips of Copland's works.
http://www.dl.ket.org/humanities/music/copland.htm

Who Was That Masked Composer?
A lengthy article in the Atlantic Monthly by David Shiff, a composer and professor of music at Reed College. The site also contains links to excellent Copland sources.
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/01/001schiff.htm

D

Richard Danielpour
American. Born New York, January 28, 1956. composer. pianist. "Richard Danielpour is one of the most recorded composers of his generation, and became only the third composer — after Stravinsky and Copland — to be signed to an exclusive recording contract by Sony Classical." There is an in-depth biography of Danielpour from G. Schirmer (AMP) that includes a list of works and links to reviews of his music.
http://www.schirmer.com/composers/danielpour_bio.html

Moshe Denburg
Moshe Denburg (b. 1949) grew up in Montreal, Canada, in a religious Jewish family. His first musical influences were the singing and chanting of the Synagogue and his mother's singing of Jewish and Israeli folksongs. His musical career has spanned over 3 decades and his accomplishments encompass a wide range of musical activities, including Composition, Performance, Jewish Music Education, and Piano Tuning. His compositions have been performed in many parts of the world and as a Performer/Composer he has recorded and toured with his ensemble Tzimmes all over North America.

Mr. Denburg has studied music extensively, both formally and informally. He has travelled worldwide, living and studying music in New York (1965-66), Israel (1966-73), Montreal (1973-78), Toronto (1978-82), India (1982-83; 1985-86), and Japan (1985). From 1986-90 he studied composition with John Celona at the University of Victoria, Canada. Since 1987 his compositions have reflected an ongoing and strengthening commitment to the principle of inter-cultural music making.

From 1982 until the present, Mr. Denburg has apprenticed himself to the study of World Music traditions, as much as possible in their native context. Living and working in India on two occasions, he studied Carnatic music (South Indian Classical tradition), both the rhythmic and melodic elements (Mrdangam and Voice). He began his studies with Trichy Sankaran at York University and contuinued in Madras with percussion master T.H. Vinayakram, and Carnatic vocal repertoire master the late Dr. S. Ramanathan. (Note: Mr. Vinayakram is known for his work with the original Shakti ensemble with John Mclaughlin, Zakir Hussain, and L. Shankar, as well as with Mickey Hart on the Grammy Award winning Planet Drum. Dr. Ramanathan was a practicing singer, Vina player, and renowned scholar who received his Phd in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University.)

In 1985 Mr. Denburg lived in Japan for 6 months, studying, in Tokyo, a style of music called Naga-uta. Naga-uta is a song form accompanied by a three stringed fretless Lute called the Shamisen, and is derived from the Kabuki theatre. (Teacher: Ms. Naomi Muraishi).

In 1993 and again in 1994, Mr. Denburg travelled to Israel to research Arabic music, consulting with expert musicians and musicologists (Edwin Serussi and Amnon Shiloah, among others) in the field, including the conductor (Suhil Radwan) of an active, professional Arabic Music Orchestra in Haifa. In 1995, he participated in the World Percussion Intensive at Simon Fraser University, to further his understanding of the rhythms and rhythmic instruments of the world.

These studies of the music of the world are ongoing, and have always had as their purpose the creation of compositions which would help build a new inter-cultural lexicon for composers and musicians of the future. No less a challenge for the composer, this work challenges musicians of differing disciplines to work together across oral/written cultural divides, and to find a common musical aesthetic. Over the last three years Mr. Denburg has established the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO), a vehicle for the realization of his, and other Canadian composers' inter-cultural work. In 2002 he was awarded a Canada Council grant to write a new work for the VICO. Entitled 'Ani Ma-amin (I Believe)' it calls for choir and a large array of instruments from musical instruments from all over the globe: China, India, Japan, Vietnam, Africa, South America, the Mid-East, & the Western world.

E

Gershon Ephros Born, Serotsk, Poland (outside of Warwaw), 1890. Died, June 28, 1978, Perth Amboy, NJ. Composer and cantor. Compiler and editor of the Cantorial Anthology (6 volumes) which made Jewish liturgical music for the entire year's holidays available in print. One of the largest accomplishments of this work was making avaiable alternatives to the florid operetta style music so prevalent at the time. Having studied hazzanut and harmony with Abraham Zvi Idelsohn, he set off on an idealistic quest to find the purest Jewish cantorial music. He developed a type of ethnographic field work, interviewing as many cantors as possible, and copying down all the music they knew. He then painstakingly edited the work. Ephros had come to US in 1911, and later appointed cantor of Congregation Beth-El in Norfolk, Virginia in 1918. Also served congregations in the Bronx and Perth Amboy, New Jersey. A founder and faculty member of the Hebrew Union College School of Sacred Music. Member of ASCAP. The Jewish Music Research Centre at Hebrew University National Library holds his papers and more than 100 scores, both of published and unpublished works. Most of the compositions come from a period between 1925-1977. According to his children, Ephros set the music to Chaim Bialik's 16 children's verses in a single day in 1936. His secular and sacred compositions have yet to be assessed and fully explored. For more information about his life, reader's can refer to an article that appeared in The Jerusalem Post, April 29, 1990, following a concert in Jerusalem of an entire evening of Ephros's music.

F

Irving Fine
This website is part of the American Memories project of the Library of Congress. "The career of Irving Fine (1914-1962), composer, conductor, writer, and academic, is documented in the Library of Congress Music Division by approximately 4,350 items from the Irving Fine Collection." In addition to biographical materials, "this first online release presents a selection of 57 photographs, a sketchbook that includes sketches for the woodwind Partita and a string quartet, a manuscript score for the String Quartet (1952), a recorded performance of the Quartet, and the finding aid for the collection."
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ifhtml/

Tsippi Fleischer
Israeli composer. Website includes a brief biography, a discography of CDs, a list of compositions with information about publicaton, manuscript, or performance, or recording and some links to articles by the composer.
http://members.nbci.com/tsfleischer/

G

Mordechai Gebirtig
Born Krakow, Poland, 1877. Died, 1942. Yiddish folk song poet. He was a poor carpenter who was self-taught in music and composed songs completely by ear, remembering them all in his head. Because he was illiterate in music, friends notated his songs. Despite the handicaps, Gebirtig's (also spelled Gebertig) songs grew wildly popular and were picked up, even in the United States, to become part of folk, popular theater and sheet music repertoire. Several books of his music were published during his lifetime including Mayne Lider. Mordechai Gebirtig: His Poetic and Musical Legacy Edited by Gertrude Schneider is a book published in 2000 of his music, reviewed at this site.
An opera has been written by Joel Hoffman about his life.CCM Opera Recalls The Holocaust. A listing of compositions held at the Jewish Library in London is found here.
http://www.jozef.de/gasn/gebirtig.htm

Jerry Gerber
American. Born: Los Angeles, 1951. Northern California-based electronic music composer and music producer. Website includes discography, compositions.

The George and Ira Gershwin
The "official" Gershwin website. It includes a jukebox, biographies of Ira and George, anthologies of their film and and show music, lots of good clips of music in the jukebox, with information about performers and the song.
http://www.gershwin.com/

George and Ira Gershwin
The official website of George and Ira Gershwin. This site includes an extensive bibliography of the writings by and about the Gershwins. The biographies are brief, but there is an excellent photo gallery and discography.
http://www.cmgww.com/music/gershwin/

Miriam Gideon
Information from the recording by CRI on the composer's works.
http://www.composersrecordings.com/cd/782.html

Miriam Gideon: A Jewish Pioneer
Anne Gray's article as published in the IAWM Journal, February 1997, pp. 20, full text.
http://music.acu.edu/www/iawm/articles/feb97/gray.html

Memorial to
Srul Irving Glick Links to websites dedicated to the life and works of Srul Irving Glick, recently deceased Canadian composer of Jewish music. Includes a short compiled biography.

Srul Irving Glick, Canadian Music Centre
The Canadian Music Centre includes a directory of composers that includes an online biography and list of selected works. These websites have both English and French versions.
http://www.musiccentre.ca/CMC/dac_rca/eng/f_/Glick_Srul_Irving.html

Srul Irving Glick
One of Canada's distinguished classical composers, Srul Irving Glick is also a prolific composer of Jewish music with special devotion to music of the synagogue. His website includes listings of recorded music, his published works and complete repertoire as well as this online biography.
http://www.snapmedia.com/srulirvingglick/bio/body_bio.html

Hirsh Glik
Born in Vilna (Vilnius, Lithuania), 1920. Died 1944. The Leonard website provides a brief biographical sketch of the life of Glik. Known as the lyricist to "Shtil, di nakht iz oysgeshternt," also known as Partisanerlid which tells of resistence against the Nazis.
http://www.leonarda.com/compfg.html

Bob Gluck
Avant guarde composer and performer. American. Composes "musique concrete and live synthesizer performance systems (Buchla Electronic Music Box, Moog, Putney, and Arp Synthesizers)." Graduated from Yeshiva University (1984);Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (1989);Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2001). Directs the Electronic Music Studio and teaches Electronic Music and Judaic Studies at the University at Albany. Associate Director at the Electronic Music Foundation. Performances feature home-built interactive electronic instruments, including the multi-sensor 'eBoard'. Wrote essay on Jewish music that appeared in The Reconstuctionist: A Journal of Contemporary Thought and Practice
http://www.electricsongs.com

Michail Gnesin
Born, January 23, 1883,Rostov-on-the-Don. Opera composer. (Name also spelled Michael Gniessen). Chair of the Society of Society for Jewish Music in Moscow, at the turn of the twentieth century.
http://www.musica-judaica.com/gnesin_e.htm

Edwin F. Goldman
American. Born Louisville, KY, January 1, 1878. Died, NY, February 21, 1956. Composer. Bandmaster. Prolific composer of 150 pieces of band music, including 100 marches. Frequently held series of outdoor band concerts in the parks of NYC, including nightly during the summers between 1927-1947. Commissioned other composers to write for bands. Radio broadcasts and tours of his band concerts enjoyed wide popularity. Founder, First President, and Honorary Life President of the American Bandmasters Association. Goldman's life is a story of true talent rising to the top. In 1887, his father died. Edwin was sent to an orphanage along with his four siblings while his mother tried to make a living as a piano teacher. He began early studies on cornet with the eminent cornet soloist Jules Levy. Edwin excelled in music and received a scholarship to study in NY at the National Conservatory of Music under Antonin Dvorak. He earned a living with the cornet, and by 1899 became principal with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra where he stayed for ten years. In 1911, he founded the New York Military Band which later, in 1920, became the Goldman Band, and still exists. He received over two dozen honorary degrees in his lifetime and became one of the most recognized people in NYC in his time. It was estimated that he gave over 8,000 concerts during his career. http://www.worldmilitarybands.com/Goldman.htm

Jerry Goldsmith
A Danish site about the movie composer with a listing of movie credits and awards.
http://www.filmmusic.dk/jerry.html

Jack Gottlieb and Theophilous Music, Inc.
Publishing music for Jack Gottlieb. Lists scores and recordings and provides a biography. Gottlieb aslo published the book "Funny, It Doesn't Sound Jewish: How yiddish Songs and Synagogue Melodies Influenced Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and Hollywood."
http://www.jackgottlieb.com/sys-tmpl/door/

Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Born: 1829 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Died: December 18, 1869. Descended from Sephardic Jews on his father's side, Gottschalk is one of the intriguing figures on 19th century New Orleans lore. A biography about him with photos, discography and links to Gottschalk sites. The Library of Congress also has a sheet music collection online. Users should use the search box and type "Gottschalk" to view a list of scanned music. American Sheet Music
http://www.louismoreaugottschalk.com/Biography/biography.html

Louis Gruenberg (1884-1964)
Pianist, opera and film composer. Born Brest-Litovsk, Russia, between 22 July-3 Aug 1884; died Beverly Hills, CA, 10 June 1964. Studied with Ferruccio Busoni in Berlin. Led the composition department at the Chicago Musical College from 1933 to 1936. Notable operas were Jack and the Beanstalk, Op. 35 (1930) and The Emperor Jones, Op. 36 (1931), which was performed at the Met. Film scores nominated for Academy Awards included The Fight For Life (1940), So Ends Our Night (1941) and Commandos Strike At Dawn (1942). Papers held at NYPL and are available to the public.

Michael Joseph Guzikow: An Introduction
Born Belarus, 1806. Died, Aachen, 1837. A 19th century klezmer musician who performed in Poland and Western Europe. For a fascinating story taken from the researchs of musicologists Joshua Horowitz and Marian Fuks, and presented by A. Jacobowitz, click on Guzikow: An Introduction.
http://www.rainlore.demon.co.uk/Guzikow/GuzikowArchs.html

H

Ira Hirschmann
American. Born 1901. Patron of the arts who helped found New Friends of Music and helped save many Jews from Europe during the Holocaust, Hirschman's papers are interesting to American Jewish music history due to his contacts and friends, and influence on modern music. Also founded an FM radion station.NYPL contains papers in the Music Division.
http://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb/ead/music/mushirschmann/@Generic__BookView

Bronislaw Huberman
A very thorough and complete site about the great Polish-Jewish violinist and musician, this site includes biographical materials that include scans of primary documents, letters and articles. Some amazing photos, stories and anecdotes. It includes many articles and texts about Huberman as well as excerpts from interviews. Materials about his work in Israel in the 1930's. There's a discography and a bibliography. Part of the biographical materials come from Huberman's secretary. There is also an amazing section that includes excerpts of live radio broadcasts of Huberman! Wow. All Thanks to Patrick Harris.
www.huberman.info

I

Michael Isaacson
Born in Brooklyn, New York, April 22, 1946. Highly prolific composer of liturgical music and other Jewish music. Producer, conductor, orchestrator, and arranger. Musically directs the Hollywood Pops. Website includes a complete vitae by genre, listings of CDs and contact information.
http://www.michaelisaacson.com/

Israel Music Institute
The Israel Music Insitute (IMI) is a publicly owned publishing house. It is a non-profit organization run by the Israel Ministry of Education and Culture. IMI owns the copyright to some 1700 works, by more than 160 Israeli composers. The IMI catalogue contains orchestra, chamber and choral works. The IMI also serves as the Israel Music Information Centre. The web presentation includes catalogues, including forthcoming publications, and a composers gallery which provides brief biographical sketches of composers and a listing of their compositions.
http://www.aquanet.co.il/vip/imi/

Michael Isaacson
American composer, conductor, ethnomusicologist. Born in Brooklyn, New York, April 22, 1946. "Founding Music Director of The Israel Pops Orchestra, and the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music, Michael Isaacson enjoys a distinguished career as a composer, conductor, producer, and educator with over 500 Jewish and secular musical compositions published, including instrumental, vocal, sacred and secular arrangements, editions and educational works, the two volume, five hundred page Michael Isaacson Songbook, and over 40 produced CDs and album recordings. He is presently working on a book entitled: Jewish Music as Midrash. He received his early education at Yeshiva Rambam, and James Madison & Sheepshead Bay High Schools. After earning a BS in Music Education from Hunter College, a Master of Arts in Music Composition under Robert Starer from Brooklyn College, keyboard studies at the Juilliard School with John Mehegan, ethnomusicology with Israel Adler at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, he went on to study with Samuel Adler and Warren Benson at the Eastman School of Music ultimately earning his Ph.D. there in Composition." Isaacson's complete biography, resume, list of works and discography is available through his website. http://www.michaelisaacson.com/

J

Frederick Jacobi
Frederick Jacobi taken by his son Fritz Jacobi, 1950
American composer. Born San Francisco May 4, 1891. Died October 24, 1952. Parents were German Jews. His grandfather came to the US in 1850. Born in California, the family went to NY, but took trips to California by train to visit relatives. For religious studies, Jacobi attended the Ethical Culture School (founded by Felix Adler in 1876), from 1901 to 1905, and again in 1906. Jacobi studied piano with Paul Gallico and Rafael Joseffy, and harmony and counter-point with Rubin Goldmark (who later also taught Aaron Copland and was head of Julliard composition faculty). His father died in 1911 and his mother in 1915. Jacobi inherited most of the money from his parent's wine and real estate holdings, and so was able to live fairly comfortably during his life. He was able to go to study at the Paris Conservatoire under Isador Philip. From around 1910-12, he continued his studies at the Hochschule under Paul Juon for two years in Berlin. Between 1913-17, he served as Assistant Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera House, under Alfred Hertz and Artur Bodansky, generally serving as a rehearsal conductor. He also played piano at Met Sunday night concerts. Jacobi worked as a “repetiteur” (vocal coach) during the Metropolitan Opera’s 1916-17 season. His first orchestral composition to be publicly performed was the symphonic poem The Pied Piper premiered by Alfred Hertz and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra March 24 and 26, 1916. On December 6, 1917, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra premiered Jacobi’s A California Suite. Jacobi used native American themes in his compositions and also focused on American locales. Shortly after getting married in 1917, he enlisted in the Army where he learned to play the saxophone. In 1919, Jacobi studied composition with Ernest Bloch, who at that time, was one of the most performed contemporary composers in America. Jacobi became a great admirer of Stravinsky. In a 1929 performance of Les Noces, at the Metropolitan Opera, he performed on one of the four grand pianos, along with Aaron Copland, Marc Blitzstein, Louis Gruenberg. During the 1920s, Jacobi's music became heavily influenced by Native American music and lore. String Quartet Based on Indian Themes composed in 1924. Jacobi spent part of 1927 in Taos , New Mexico, studying Indian music and culture resulting in Indian Dances, which premiered in Boston Symphony Orchestra on November 8, 1928. Jacobi was a charter member of the American Music Guild in New York and had many compositions performed. In 1930, Lazare Saminsky commissioned him to write a sacred service for Temple Emanuel in New York, the Sabbath Evening Service According to the Union Prayer Book for baritone solo (cantor) and mixed chorus, first performed in 1931. This established Jacobi as one of the important Jewish liturgical composers in the country while "not particularly of marked Jewish melos.” He continued to compose, writing more than forty works for orchestra and chamber groups. From 1925-1946, Jacobi served on the executive board of the League of Composers and also on the editorial board of its quarterly publication Modern Music. He also served on the American board of the International Society for Contemporary Music and the National Association for American Composers and Conductors. Jacobi taught composition from 1936, and later became head of the composition department at Julliard. In 1942 he began a collaboration with Herman Voaden on his opera The Prodigal Son, which was completed but never performed in his lifetime. "Frederick Jacobi was deeply involved in Jewish musical life, religion and culture in New York from the dedication of the new Temple Emanu-El on January 10, 1930 to his death in 1952." Photo Credit: Fritz Jacobi, 1950. Used with permission. For more detailed information about Frederick Jacobi, see an article by Anton Wagner "Frederick Jacobi and Herman Voaden: The Prodigal Son" Material for this essay based on information from the article by Anton Wagner located at http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/Theatre/voaden/theprodigalson_article.htm .
Wagner's complete article is copyright University of New Brunswick.

Stephen Jaffe
American. B. 1955 in Washington, D.C. Studied composition at the University of Pennsylvania with George Crumb, George Rochberg, and Richard Wernick. Also at the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland. Since 1999, he is Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans Professor of Music at Duke University, where he taught since 1981. Jaffe co-directs Duke's contemporary music concert series Encounters: with the Music of Our Time, and works with a inventive and gifted group of young composers. Jaffe won a Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Prize, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Tanglewood, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Brandeis University awarded him its Creative Arts Citation (1989), Kennedy Center Friedheim Award for First Quartet(1991. He recently completed three major concerti including a commission by the National Symphony (Leonard Slatkin, Music Director), for the orchestra s principal cellist David Hardy Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (2003). His website lists various compositions and an interview with the composer.
http://www.duke.edu/music/people/jaffe.html

K

Abraham Kaplan
Israeli-born American choral conductor and composer. Kaplan graduated from the Israeli Conservatory (1954); Juilliard School of Music(1955); post graduate diploma from Juilliard (1957). Founded the Camerata Singers in 1961 and in that same year became head of Juilliard's choral department. During his tenure at Juilliard, Kaplan held a teaching position at the School of Sacred Music of Union Theological Seminary, and directed the choral program for the New York State Summer School for the Arts (1976-83). Kaplan also served as music director of the Collegiate Chorale in New York (1961-73), music director of the Symphonic Choral Society of New York (1968-77), and associate director for choral activities at the Seattle Symphony (1995-2000). Kaplan's recorded compositions include Glorious: A collection of Psalms and biblical songs, The K'dusha Symphony, Arvit L'Shabbat, and Psalms of Abraham. Choral Conducting,his college textbook, was published by W.W. Norton in 1985.
http://www.abrahamkaplan.com/

Erich Korngold Society
Erich Korngold, one of America's greatest Hollywood film composers, and forerunner of people such as John Williams, died in 1957, but is finally gaining more of his well deserved recognition. A website devoted to Korngold and his music has been produced by an ardent fan group. It includes biographical information, a listing of his general musical works, film scores, discography, major books about the composer, archival photos of the composer, and a link to an online webcast of "die tote stadt" (which requires a subscription). There are also analyses of film scores, such as Sea Hawk and Sea Wolf.
http://www.korngold-society.org

Eric Wolfgang Korngold
An extensive website devoted to the composer Eric Korngold including a biography, bibliography of futher works about his life, a discography and a catalogue of compositions. An interesting set of links, including a direct link to Scott, his major publishing house and several testimonials rounds out this interesting site.
http://www.geocities.com/~bs-magazine/korngold/i_kmenu.html

Cantors Koussevitzky
Cantor Elihu Feldman has put together a 2-part series on the 4 Koussevitzky brothers, important cantors of the twentieth century: Cantors Moshe, David, Jacob and Simcha Koussevitzky. These are excellent brief biographies, giving some background on each of the brothers. Two URL's from the Cantor's pages at B'nai Shalom in West Orange, New Jersey.
http://www.uscj.org/njersey/w-orange/cantor/Cantor2003feb.htm http://www.uscj.org/njersey/w-orange/cantor/Cantor2003mar.htm

David Krakauer
David Krakauer, clarinetist, is fast getting the reputation as one of the premier klezmer clarinetists. His virtuosity and brilliant creativity have been hailed in numerous reviews. His webpage includes a biography, discography and contact information.
http://www.trilliumproductions.com/dkhp.htm

Alexander Krein
Born, Nishny-Novgorod, 1883. Died, Moscow, April 22, 1951. Composer. Distinctive member of The Society for Jewish Folk Music in Moscow at the beginning of the twentieth century. Attended Moscow Conservatory starting around 1897, graduating 1908. Active in the modern music division of the Commission for Folklore, and also in the mid-1920s, wrote music for the Russian Jewish theaters, the Moscow Jewish State Theater and the The White Russian Jewish State Theater. His most important work, the symphonic cantata "Kaddish" for mixed chorus, tenor and orchestra (1921-22), thought lost for many years, was recently recovered in Russia. His music captures the "Hebraic" flavor, including Hebrew Caprice, The Night at the Old Market Place, Gazelles and Songs and Hebrew Sketches.

Meyer Kupferman
American. Born July 3, 1926 in New York City to eastern European Jewish parents. A prolific composer, he has an impressive output of work in all forms: 7 operas, 12 symphonies, 9 ballets, 7 string quartets, 10 concertos and hundreds of chamber works. His father Elias was a baker, and his mother Fanny had worked in the mills and factories of Kansas. The family settled in Brooklyn, forced on a constant move by the Depression. His father added singer and entertainer and his mother became a seamtress in NY. At 5 he started violin but gave it up. At ten he started clarinet in school. He became fascinated with composition and learned piano, allowing him to work as a young jazz musician in clubs and bars in the Coney Island area of Brooklyn. He received his education in theory, chamber ensemble and orchestral music at the High School of Music and Art, and also studied at Queens College. "As a young composer still in his twenties, Kupferman because Professor of Composition and Chamber Music at Sarah Lawrence College in 1951. He continued as member of the faculty until his retirement forty three years later in 1994. Mr. Kupferman has been awarded grants and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment of the Arts, the Library of Congress, the US State Department and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He is a virtuoso clarinetist who has premiered over sixty solo and chamber works composed especially for him and his  Music By My Friends ensemble.... his strong interest in jazz has been abundantly shown by such  classical-jazz compositions as Concerto for Cello and Jazz Band, Sonata on Jazz Elements, Tunnels of Love, Adjustable Tears, Jazz Infinities Three, Jazz Sting Quartet and Moonflowers, Baby!" Information for this bio written by Valentine Fabian. For more information on Meyer Kupferman and his works, visit the website: http://www.jamesarts.com/MKBIO2000.htm

Leonard Lehrman
Composer, performer, librarian and archivist, and expert on the works of Marc Blitzstein, Leonard Lehrman lives and works on Long Island, New York. The artist page includes a biography, photos, a discography and a list of works.
http://ljlehrman.artists-in-residence.com

Alex Lubet
Alex Lubet, professor of music at the University of Minnesota many works on Jewish themes. His website at the University includes contact information and a brief listing of some compositional highlights.
http://www.music.umn.edu/fac_rsch/bios/lubet.htm

Gustav Mahler
A website from the Austrian tourism bureau on the composer, Gustav Mahler, with neatly laid out biographical essays and links to information about Mahler sites to visit in Austria. Included is a bibliography for further reading.
http://austria-tourism.at/personen/mahler/index.html

Gustav Mahler: Song Symphonist
A book length biography on the web, full text, by Gabriel Engel. This remarkable web achievement is the first English language biography that took advantage of personal letters of Mahler. The title of the website comes from the book published by the Bruckner Society in 1932 which is presented full text on the website. The entire website on Mahler is maintained by Jason Greshes at http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/mahler/.

Felix Mendelssohn
A brief biography extracted from the Grove Concise Dictionary of Music.
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/mendelssohn.html

Felix Mendelssohn
A brief biography of Felix Mendelssohn by Richard Rodda.
http://www.sirius.com/~arts/mendbio.html

Giacomo Meyerbeer
A biography of Meyerbeer, (born Yaakov Liebmann Beer), this website was created by his self-designated "fan club", a group devoted to the continued recognition and performance of Meyerbeer's works. This site is also a source for information on Halevy and Auber. What's really great about this site for students are the links to full text articles by "contributors" of the fan club. These contributors range from professors to journalists to students. Also included is a thorough discography as well as the attachment of an historical discography.

Darius Milhaud
In French. This website gives a brief biography, discography, bibliography and a list of works.
http://www.france.diplomatie.fr/culture/france/musique/composit/milhaud.html

Alexandr Mordhuhovich
Russian composer and performer. Born March 28, 1946 in Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Senior lecturer of the Magnitogorsk State Conservatory (MaGK). Graduated 1964 from Magnitogorsk Musical College in bayan and the piano. 1971 graduated from the Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod) Conservatory. Post-graduate study, 1995 from Nizhny Novgorod Conservatory. Since 1970, worked as educator of the Russian folk instruments section of the Magnitogorsk Musical College. Winner of diploma at the All-Russian Contest in Moscow at 2000, and winner of diploma at the international Contest of bayan-accordion-players "The Far East Cup" in Vladivostok, 2000. Founded the concert ensemble of Russian folk instruments «Rodnye Napevy» («The Native Tunes»)(1980). Also founded a chamber instrumental ensemble «Retro» (1991), the instrumental trio «Accordion-Retro» (1997), the instrumental duet «Expromt» (2000). As a composer, he has released more than 20 author's collections since the 1980s. Mordhuhovich's website has a full listing of his compositions, along with sound clips from his discography of CDs. Information about obtaining scores and contact information is: Alexander Morduhovich ,Galiullina 35-3, Magnitogorsk 455049, Russia 7+ 3519-313297. Among his works are many choral and vocal, orchestral and chamber compositions. He also has albums of Jewish themed music called "Jewish Mosaic" and "The world that I Give You". The website is available in English, Hebrew and Russian.
http://morduhovich.com/index.html

N

Lior Navok
Israeli composer living in the United States. Website has links to information about obtaining scores and recordings of the composer's works. Brief biography included.
http://www.liornavok.com/

Jacques Offenbach
The French government's site on Jacques Offenbach with a brief biography, a list of works, a discography and a bibliography for further reading. In French.
http://www.france.diplomatie.fr/culture/france/musique/composit/offenbac.html

P-Q

David Propis
Canadian born. Cantor at Congregation Beth Yeshurun in Houston, Texas. A producer of a series of CDs for the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and the Cantors Assembly, entitled "The Spirit Series." Website includes information about his CD The Three Jewish Tenors, Live!.
http://www.davidpropis.com/biography.html

R

Zlata Razdolina
Composer born in Russia and immigrated to Israel. Website includes information on compositions, recordings, and link to a brief biography.
http://www.igc.apc.org/ddickerson/zlata-razdolina/index.html

Steve Reich
The New Music Box archive biography of Steve Reich includes several transcripts of interviews with Reich, full text, as well as a biography, list of works, recordings and links.
http://www.newmusicbox.org/archive/firstperson/reich/bio.html

Lucas Richman
orLucas Richman's Orchestral Compositions on Jewish Themes
An accomplished conductor and composer, Lucas Richman is Assistant Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and a cover conductor for the New York Philharmonic. He has written many compositions on Jewish theme for orchestra.
http://lajs.home.att.net/bios/LucasRichman.htm

S

Lazare Saminsky1
Lazare Saminsky2 2 websites about Lazare Saminsky, composer.
http://www.musica-judaica.com/samin_e.htm
http://www.xrefer.com/entry/357218

Simon Sargon
The Jewish Indian-born composer's biography and a listing of published works are included. Especially nice is the listing of compositions with "first page" scans of the score as a sample of the work. Mp3 technology is employed for the sound samples.
http://www.simonsargon.com/

Second Avenue Online
The Spielberg-funded digital archive website set up by New York University's Center for Advanced Technology on Yiddish Theatre. The website includes a history and chronology of Yiddish Theater in America, with links to brief biographies of key figures and some photos. There are listings of archival institutions that hold materials on Yiddish theatre. Many of those libraries, museums and archives include sheet music or sound recordings. Most of the histories online are written by a one or two individuals and there are few footnotes link to names of resources from the archive. However this is a fun resource for students. Eventually the site will include oral histories, manuscripts and scores, letters, photos, and will feature an interactive 3-D "walk through" of a theater. The project originated with Ann Ronnell, (one of Hollywood's first successful female lyricist and composer) who wanted to create a project on Jewish composers and lyricists of theater and film, (according to the September 17, 1999 Jewish Week). New York University also houses the Sholom Secunda Archives.
http://yap.cat.nyu.edu/

Jacobo Schkliar
Jacobo Schkliar, who served as chazzan and organist in Buenos Aires, Argentina is honored in a website that features a brief biography and some sound files of his recordings.
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Opera/7929/

Eliahu Schleifer
Born 1939, Jerusalem, Israel. Musicologist. Professor of Sacred Music. Director of Cantorial Studies at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. PhD. University of Chicago, 1976. A biography appears on Creative Horizons in Music website.
http://www.shemesh.co.il/creativehorizons/schleiferbio.htm

Arnold Schoenberg
The grandson of Arnold Schoenberg has mounted an extensive website devoted to the composer. An excellent source of academic materials.
http://www.primenet.com/~randols/schoenberg/schoenlinks.html
An article about Schoenberg in Wall Street Journal, September 17, 1998, Greg Sandrow.

Harold Shapero
American-born composer. Professor of music, Brandeis University. Born, Lynn, Massachusetts, 29 April 1920. Shapero grew up in Newton, MA playing piano and joined Hal Kenny Orchestra, a swing band in high school. He studied with Nicolas Slonimsky and Ernst Krenek, attended Harvard studying composition with Piston and Hindemith, and graduated in 1941. Shapero attended Tanglewood where he premiered Nine-Minute Overture and which won the Prix de Rome in 1941. In 1946, Shapero won the Joseph H. Bearns Prize for the Symphony for String Orchestra. In 1947, Leonard Bernstein premiered his Symphony for Classical Orchestra with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Shapero joined the faculty of Brandeis University in 1951 and helped to found the music department with Irving Fine. Shapero has also won two Guggenheim Fellowships (in 1947 and in 1948), two Fulbright Fellowship (in 1948 and in 1960), and a Naumburg Fellowship. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in 1961 and became a composer-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome in 1970. Shapero retired from Brandeis in 1988 to devote more time to composition. Shapero married the painter Esther Geller in 1945. They had a daughter, Hannah, in 1953, who also became a painter. Shapero was encouraged and found supporters in both Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. The Library of Congress Bernstein collection has some correspondence, dated 1940, where Copland introduces Shapero's name to Bernstein: "...Just discovered a new 'genius' (born 1920!) in Newton, Mass of all places. The name is Shapero. Watch your laurels!"

Laurence Sherr
Laurence Sherr is Composer-in-Residence and Assistant Professor of Music at Kennesaw State University in metropolitan Atlanta. Besides composition and teaching, Professor Sherr also is active in a local Atlanta klezmer band, Oy Klezmer!
http://ksumail.kennesaw.edu/~lsherr/bio.html

Alan Shulman
American. Composer and Cellist. Alan Shulman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, June 4, 1915 and died in Hudson, New York, July 10, 2002. He studied at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and became a cellist, playing in many orchestras, including the National Orchestral Association under Leon Barzin, and the N.B.C. Symphony under Arturo Toscanini. Shulman's first successful composition was Theme and Variations for Viola and Orchestra which received its premiere over NBC in 1941 with Emanuel Vardi (Bridge 9119) as soloist. A biography is available online at his website, along with many interesting photos of Shulman with other musicians, a list of works, and a discography. Many of his early recordings have now been rereleased. Besides his many classical compositions, Shulman wrote works on Jewish themes.
http://www.capital.net/com/ggjj/shulman/

Faye-Ellen Silverman
American. composer, clarinet, viola, piano. B.A., Barnard College; M.A., Harvard; D.M.A., Columbia, in music composition. Her teachers have included Otto Luening, William Sydeman, Leon Kirchner, Lukas Foss, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and Jack Beeson. Her webpage includes reviews, list of compositions, and a shop.
http://www.amc.net/member/Faye_Silverman/bio.html

Ben Steinberg
Ben Steinberg is a well-known contemporary synagogue composer with numerous awards and achievements, living in Toronto and currently serving as Director of Music at Temple Sinai in Toronto, Canada. Steinberg has composed for orchestra, chamber ensemble, chorus and solo voice. Many of his works are published by Transcontinental in New York.
http://www.musiccentre.ca/CMC/dac_rca/eng/p_/Steinberg_Ben.html

Robert Stern
Robert Stern, Professor of Theory and Composition, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, has written several Jewish thematic compositions. Faculty biography at University website.
http://www.umass.edu/music-dance/faclist2.html#rstern

Stutschewsky, Joachim
Born, Romny, Ukraine, 7 February 1891, Died Tel Aviv, 14 November 1982. Born into a family of klezmer musicians, Joachim started on violin but moved to playing cello. Studied at Leipzig Conservatory, graduating in 1912. Moved to Zurich during WWI, and organized concerts of Jewish music. From 1921-1938 lived in Vienna and participated in Vienna String Quartet. Emigrated to Israel, becoming involved in organizing concerts in Tel Aviv, teaching and performing cello. Wrote many pedagogical works on cello. He died in Tel Aviv in 1982. Stutchewsky was a great collector of Jewish music. Many of those items as well as his papers are held in the Felijia Blumenthal Center Archives in Tel Aviv. Some of his compositions include Israeli Melodies, Hasidic Suite for Cello and Piano, and Tsfat, a symphonic poem.
http://www.imi.org.il/composerInfo.asp?num=164

T

Joseph Tal
Israeli composer. Born Joseph Gruenthal 18 April 1910 in Penne (or Pinne) that was eastern Germany near Poznan, Poland. Known as Israel's foremost pioneer of electronic music. He studied piano and composition at the Berlin Hochschule fur Musik from 1928-1930 with Hindemith, and twelve-tone technique with Heinz Tiessen. He worked as a pianist, but retrained as a photographer to get access to a visa to leave for Israel in 1934. He worked in Haifa and then joined Kibbutz Kesher, then moved to Jerusalem to teach piano and composition at the conservatory. From 1948 -1952, he was director of the Israel Academy of Music and 1965-1971 head of musicology at Hebrew University. Tal's works include six symphonies, operas, piano concertos, a viola concerto, harpsichord concerto with tape, woodwind quintet, 3 string quartets and an oboe sonata. Philip Bohlman, in his book, The Land Where Two Streams Flow, wrote that Tal was "the most individualistic composer of the immigrant generation from Central Europe". Tal won the Yoel Engel Prize, the Israel Prize (1971) and the Arts Prize of the City of Berlin (1975), shared the Wolff Prize with Vladimir Horowitz and Olivier Messiaen (1983). He is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Tal's opera Josef (1993) premiered in 1995 when Tal was 85 years old. To read more about Tal, read Jehoash Hirschberg, Music in the Jewish Community of Palestine 1880-1948, and Robert Fleisher, Twenty Israeli Coposers: Voices of a Culture.

Carlo Taube
Composer. Virtuoso pianist. Born in Galicia, 1897. Died, Auschwitz in October, 1944. Arrived at Terezín in December, 1941. Led concerts of semiclassical music, "very much in the style of the "spa" orchestras popular in prewar Europe". Gave ambitious piano concerts. Composed in Terezin, but only one song survived, Ein Jüdisches Kind, composed November 4,1942, and set to a text by his wife, Erika. Works included on a CD: "Composers of the Holocaust."
http://www.leonarda.com/le342.html

Ernest Toch Archive at UCLA Music Library Special Collections
A special collection of the music of Ernest Toch is located in the UCLA Music Library. Here the works of the great Jewish Austrian/American composer reside, including manuscripts, printed scores, photographs, recordings and books. Interesting links lead to resources including an article in The Atlantic Monthly by the composers' grandson.
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/music/mlsc/toch/index.htm

U-V

Misha Veksler
Composer and pianist. Born, 1907. Died, Ponar, 1943. Conducted the Jewish theatre orchestra in the Vilna ghetto. Wrote, Yisrolik, a song about a child peddler in the ghettos.

Viktor Ullmann
Viktor Ullmann was a composer who perished during the Holocaust in Europe. The website devoted to Ullmann includes a biography, a lists of works, a bibliography, archival photos and a time frame of his life, related links and a newsletter. The newsletter, Strange Passenger, is being started up and is scheduled for publication in April, 2003 through the Viktor Ullmann Foundation.
http://mitglied.lycos.de/mwiener/ullmann/index-e.html

W-Z

Leon Wajner

This brief life of Leon Wajner comes from an album collection of his songs, Cantos de lucha y resurgimiento (Songs of Struggle and Resurrection). Summarized and translated from the Spanish by Lori Cahan-Simon.

Leon Wajner
Born in Lodz in 1898. Died, (Argentina?) 1979. Composer, conductor, performer, and educator. Wajner came from a family of cantors. He studied viola, conducting, at the State Conservatory in Warsaw. Between the years 1915 and 1939, he was a prize winning violist and toured Europe, taught singing and music in various schools, and directed various choirs and orchestras. He was musical director of the Polish Military Theater in Lublin, as well as acting as Minister of Religion and Culture.

He was called to service in the Polish army and was imprisoned by the Russians on September 17, 1939 and held in Rovno, Volinia. There Wajner organized various choruses, again touring throughout Russia, 1940-1944, ending in Biro Bidyan (an area set aside for a "Jewish Homeland" by the Russians.)

At the end of WWII, he was repatriated to Poland where he found not one member of his family alive. His wife and daughter ended their days in the Warsaw Ghetto. Eventually, he heard from some surviving relatives in Chile and Israel.

After the war, he took up his old occupations and began composing to honor and remember the heroes and those killed. He collaborated with Shmerke Kaczerginski to produce a collection of 96 songs of the Ghetto and of the Partisans entitled Undzer Gezang, 23 of which were Wajner's compositions. He also published a musical setting for the poem by Wladyslaw Broniewski, "To the Jews of Poland", dedicated to the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, in the form of a cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra. It was premiered on April 19, 1948, the 5th anniversary of the uprising, during the unveiling of the monument to those heroes in Warsaw in the presence of Jewish delgates from around the world. During this period he began a professional relationship with the singer Rivka Klinicki, who later became his wife. In 1948, they worked in Paris and Italy, teaching and concertizing.

In 1949, they moved to Buenos Aires. Wajner taught and conducted for many schools and organizations. He continued touring with his wife as singer throughout Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. He also continued his composing, being prolific in his works in memory of the European Jewish communities, and turning toward the next generation with songs for children. Some later titles include: "Expresiones" for viola and piano; "Meditations on Jewish and Argentinian motifs", fantasia for piano;and "Jewish Dance" for piano. Many articles were published about Wajner and Klinicki, from 1938 to 1962, in Europe, the U.S. and South America. Sadly, the pre-war compositions of Leon Wajner are lost.

Franz Waxman
Major film composer. Born 1906- Died 1967. Franz Waxman had an extensive film composing career in Europe and the US, writing over 144 film scores.
http://www.shef.ac.uk/~cm1jwb/waxman.htm

Kurt Weill Foundation
The Kurt Weill Foundation website includes several biographies about Weill, including a brief biography and a more extended one, a time line of his life, a discography, a catalogue of works, and a bibliography of articles by and about Weill and his music. There is also a list of popular biographies as well as dissertations on the music of Weill. The website also includes information about Lotte Lenya and her career and life, publications and new cds of Weill's music and a newsletter about foundation activities.
http://www.kwf.org/Welcome.html

Kurt Weill
A time line of the life of Kurt Weill. In German.
http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/WeillKurt/

Mieczyslaw Weinberg
Also known as Moisei Vainberg, but "Weinberg" is correct spelling. Born 8 December 1919 in Warsaw. d. Moscow on 26 February, 1996. Prolific composer of classical music. Studied in Warsaw Academy of Music, under the direction of Szymanowski. Fled the Nazis in 1939 after his entire family had been murdered. Fled to Minsk, and from there found work at the opera house in Tashkent, in Uzbekistan. He sent his First Symphony to Shostakovich, who helped him come to Moscow, and later saved him under Stalin. Weinberg made a living by composing in Russia for most of his life. Olympia Records has released 16 CDs of Vainbergs music. Chandos label is releasing symphonic works and Claves is releasing chamber symphonies. Other individual pieces appear on labels such as Naxos. His works consist of "26 symphonies; seven concertos; 17 string quartets; 28 sonatas for various instruments; seven operas; several ballets; incidental music for 65 films; and many other works, including a Requiem" according to Robert Reilly in an article entitled Light in the Dark: The Music of Mieczyslaw Vainberg. Weinberg's music is published by Peermusic Classical Per Skans wrote: "Lyricism and powerful drama are further essential and very captivating aspects of his music, completing its overall architecture to an image of rare humane profundity." A listing of works by Opus numbers appears at: http://perso.club-internet.fr/claudet/Vainberg/.
http://www.mweinberg.info/

Lazar Weiner
Lazar Weiner, the first conductor of the Freiheit Gezangsverein, and a prolific composer of Yiddish art song, cantatas and choral music, came to America in 1914. He became the music director of the Central Synagogue in New York, conductor of the Workman's Circle Chorus and music director of the weekly radio program The Message of Israel. Manja Ressler has written a brief article on Weiner for a Netherlands online journal (which may becurrently one of the only pieces of biographical information on this composer on the Internet.) For more informaton on Weiner, read the English translation of Israel Rabinovitch's work: Of Jewish Music Ancient and Modern, Montreal: The Book Center, 1952.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ljg/last.html#5

Hugo Weisgall Papers
Hugo Weisgall, conductor, opera and liturgical choral music composer, was born at Eibenschütz, Moravia on October 13, 1912. The son of a cantor, he grew up in Baltimore, and studied at the Peabody Conservatory, Curtis Institute, and received a PhD from Johns Hopkins in 1940. He studied composition with Roger Sessions. Weisgall founded the Chamber Music Society of Baltimore in 1948, and the Hilltop Opera in 1952. He directed the Baltimore Institute of Musical Arts, a conservatory for African-Americans. In 1952 he became faculty chair at JTS, the Jewish Theological Seminary in NY. He also taught at Julliard (starting 1957) and Queens College (starting 1961). He served as President of the American Music Center, and elected president of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1990). Weisgall died in Great Neck, NY on March 11, 1997. His papers, which cover a span of nearly 70 years, are kept at the NYPL. A online finding aid describes the contents of the holdings.
http://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb/ead/music/musweisg/@Generic__BookView

Alexander Moiseyevich Weprik
Russian Jewish composer (name also spelled Veprik). Born in Balta, near Odessa, June 1899. Died, Moscow, 13 October 1958. Born in the Ukraine, but grew up in Poland. Studied piano at Warsaw Conservatory until age 10. Studied composition in Leipzig with Janacek and Reger between 1909-1914. Studied piano with Dubasov in St. Petersburg Conservatory. Studied composition with Zhitomirsky from 1917-1920. Became a teacher 1923. Very active in the founding of the Society for Jewish Folk Music. In mid 1920s, composed several Jewish works, including Songs and Dances of the Ghetto, Hebrew Songs for Orchestra, and Kaddish. In March 1933, "Dances and Songs of the Ghetto" was performed in Carnegie Hall, New York conducted by Toscanini. During the Stalin regime, Weprik was sent to a Gulag. He died a few years after release, in 1958. Website has brief biography and photo. The book Jüdische Musik in Sowjetrussland edited by Henny van de Groep, has a chapter on Weprik.
http://www.musica-judaica.com/weprik_e.htm

Menachem WiesenbergMenachem Wiesenberg
Israeli composer. Born 05.08.1950. Pianist. Arranger. Musical Director. BA in Piano Performance at Rubin Academy, Tel Aviv; Winner,  Helena Rubinstein Prize at Julliard. Graduated with Masters from Julliard Schoool of Music (1979); Post graduate studies in Piano and Theory, Mannes College. Currently Head of the Jazz and Interdisciplinary Music Department and Senior Lecturer at the Academy of Music in Jerusalem. Musical advisor for Young Musicins Group at the Jerusalem Music Center. Since 1982, senior lecturer at Tel Aviv Music Teachers College. Known for arrangements of Yiddish and Hebrew folk songs. Examples of this are his 1999 CD with popular singer Chava Alberstein, "Chava Sings More Yiddish Songs" where he was Musical Director, Arranger and Pianist; and the 1983 record "At Home", with Chava Alberstein. In 2004, was named a visiting composer to the Jewish Music Institute in London. He also had the premier of his Violin Concerto, performed by Hagai Shaham and the Israeli Symphony Orchestra. His piece, "Jerusalem" which had the world premiere, June 1996, was Commissioned by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra for the Celebration of 3000 years to Jerusalem. He was awarded the 1992 prize for outstanding achievement in the concert field by ACUM; Won the 1998 Prime Minister prize for composition. His music is available on more than 9 CDs on the EMI and Koch labels. Other recent premieres include: Reflections (2002); "Primus Inter Pares" (2002); "Concerto Da-Camera  La Folia" (2001); "Fantasy for String Orchestra" (prayer) (1994), "Between the Sacred and the Profane", String Quartet(1991). His website includes a complete curriculum vitae and photographs.
http://www.mwm.co.il/

Stefan Wolpe from Akademie der Kunste, BerlinStefan Wolpe
Berlin-born American composer. Born, Charlottenburg Berlin, 25 August, 1902; died, New York City, 4 April 1972. A full biography of the composer is available on the Stefan Wolpe Society Website, which also includes bibliography, lists of recordings, scores and works, and a discography of recordings on CD and finding aid to papers held in PAUL SACHER STIFTUNG. Located at: Auf Burg, Münsterplatz 4,CH-4051. Basel, Switzerland. tel 41 61 261 66 44 fax 41 61 261 91 83. For more information about Wolpe, use On the Music of Stefan Wolpe edited by Austin Clarkson, published by Pendragon Press, 2004. Photo from the Akademie der Kunste, Berlin
http://www.wolpe.org/

 

 

Eric ZeislEric Zeisl
The grandson of Eric Zeisl has mounted an extensive website devoted to the composer. An excellent sources of academic materials.
http://www.schoenberglaw.com/zeisl.

 

 

 

 

Alexander Zemlinsky Alexander Zemlinsky
Viennese born-American. Pianist. Composer. Teacher. Zemlinksy was born in Vienna, 14 October 1871 and died in Larchmont, New York, 15 March 1942. A unique timeline of the life of Zemlinsky is compiled by Janet Wasserman. A more thorough life and work are available online produced by Alexander Zemlinsky Foundation at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. Zemlinsky was greatly encouraged as a composer by Brahms, was friends with Schoenberg, admired Mahler, and was a teacher to Erich Korngold. Though in the thick of new music in Vienna, Zemlinsky wrote in a more traditional style, never going to a twelve-tone row, as Schoenberg did. Despite a complex ethnic background with only one (originally) Jewish grandparent, (his grandmother was Muslim, his other grandparents Catholics, but his father was a convert to Judaism), Zemlinsky had to flee the Nazi's in 1938. Zemlinsky lacked the marketing skills to have his music performed and florish in his lifetime. Increasingly, there has been posthumous recognition. A biography, Zemlinksy, was written by Anthony Beaumont (2000). Arnold Schoenberg's famous quote of "Zemlinsky can wait" came to pass. Apparently, however, Zemlinsky time has come. A recent CD set of Songs of Zemlinsky, sung by Hermine Haselbck, /Mezzosoprano with Florian Henschel,/Piano has been produced by PAN CLASSICS (PC 10162). To hear excerpts, visit Hermine Haselböck's website
http://www.zemlinsky.at/

Mark Zuckerman
Choral Composer and arranger. Has written numerous works and also arranged Yiddish choral works, often incorporating some English to help audiences appreciate the texts better. Zuckerman appears to be a highly professional and successful modern choral arranger. You can hear many selections of his music online though his nicely laid out catalog of works. Another nice highlight of the website is the program liner notes online. Take a look at the "Year in Yiddish Song" to get a flavor of the information available. According to his online bio, his "choral music has achieved an international reputation with choruses and at festivals in The Netherlands and Canada as well as in the United States. It's been performed and recorded by the Gregg Smith Singers, The Goldene Keyt Singers, the New Yiddish Chorale, The Workman's Circle Chorus, and Di Goldene Keyt/The Yiddish Chorale.... instrumental music has been recorded by the Chicago Brass Ensemble, Ilya Itin, the Seattle Sinfonia, Peter Vinograde, and James Winn." You may wish to contact Mark if you need Jewish choral arrangements. Contact:
http://www.mazicmusic.com

JMWC HomeReturn to Jewish Music Webcenter
Updated July 10, 2003
All content © 2000--2003 Judith Pinnolis.
For more information or permissions, please email me