Giora Bernstein
Encyclopedia
Giora Bernstein is a conductor, classical violinist, and Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Colorado
. He was the founder of the Colorado Music Festival
and its Artistic Director for 24 years.
in 1933 and emigrated to Palestine
(now Israel
) in 1938, arriving there in 1939. He began his music education in Israel where he studied violin from 1953 to 1955 at the Tel Aviv Music Academy as well as music history with Leo Kestenberg. In 1955, he went to the United States where he studied violin with Edouard Dethier
at the Juilliard School
, and later received a Master of Fine Arts in composition from Brandeis University
. He went on to study for his Doctorate in Music at Boston University
, graduating in 1967. His PhD thesis was on the influence of oriental music idioms on Israeli contemporary music.
Bernstein was a violinist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra
from 1963 until 1967 and then moved to California to become a professor at Pomona College
. During his time at Pomona College, he founded the Claremont Music Festival and served as its Music Director from 1968 to 1975. In 1975 Bernstein was appointed Professor of Music and head of the conducting
program at the University of Colorado
. The following year, he founded the Colorado Music Festival
and became its first Artistic Director, a post he held until 2000. Under his directorship the festival was the venue for several world and North American premieres, and won five ASCAP Adventurous Programming Awards.
A champion of contemporary music, Bernstein has played in or conducted several world premieres. New works were a feature of his programming at both the Claremont Music Festival which originally commissioned Paul Chihara
's Grass, and the Colorado Music Festival where both Tōru Takemitsu
's Dreamtime and Krzysztof Penderecki
's Concerto for viola and orchestra received their North American premieres.
Since his retirement, Giora Bernstein has been based in Vienna where he plays violin in chamber concerts
, although he has periodically returned to the Colorado Music Festival as a guest conductor.
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
. He was the founder of the Colorado Music Festival
Colorado Music Festival
The Colorado Music Festival is a classical music festival in Boulder, Colorado. It was founded in 1976 by the Vienna-born conductor and violinist, Giora Bernstein and presents an annual summer season of concerts in Boulder's Chautauqua Auditorium performed by the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra...
and its Artistic Director for 24 years.
Biography
Giora Bernstein was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1933 and emigrated to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
(now Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
) in 1938, arriving there in 1939. He began his music education in Israel where he studied violin from 1953 to 1955 at the Tel Aviv Music Academy as well as music history with Leo Kestenberg. In 1955, he went to the United States where he studied violin with Edouard Dethier
Edouard Dethier
Edouard Charles Louis Dethier was a Belgian classical violinist and teacher of the violin. He was a soloist with the New York Philharmonic and New York Symphony orchestras as well as extensively touring the United States and Canada as a recitalist. From 1906, he also taught violin at the Juilliard...
at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
, and later received a Master of Fine Arts in composition from Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
. He went on to study for his Doctorate in Music at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, graduating in 1967. His PhD thesis was on the influence of oriental music idioms on Israeli contemporary music.
Bernstein was a violinist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
from 1963 until 1967 and then moved to California to become a professor at Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
. During his time at Pomona College, he founded the Claremont Music Festival and served as its Music Director from 1968 to 1975. In 1975 Bernstein was appointed Professor of Music and head of the conducting
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
program at the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
. The following year, he founded the Colorado Music Festival
Colorado Music Festival
The Colorado Music Festival is a classical music festival in Boulder, Colorado. It was founded in 1976 by the Vienna-born conductor and violinist, Giora Bernstein and presents an annual summer season of concerts in Boulder's Chautauqua Auditorium performed by the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra...
and became its first Artistic Director, a post he held until 2000. Under his directorship the festival was the venue for several world and North American premieres, and won five ASCAP Adventurous Programming Awards.
A champion of contemporary music, Bernstein has played in or conducted several world premieres. New works were a feature of his programming at both the Claremont Music Festival which originally commissioned Paul Chihara
Paul Chihara
Paul Seiko Chihara is an American composer.Chihara was born in Seattle, Washington in 1938. A Japanese American, he spent several years of his childhood with his family in an internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho....
's Grass, and the Colorado Music Festival where both Tōru Takemitsu
Toru Takemitsu
was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu possessed consummate skill in the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre...
's Dreamtime and Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
's Concerto for viola and orchestra received their North American premieres.
Since his retirement, Giora Bernstein has been based in Vienna where he plays violin in chamber concerts
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, although he has periodically returned to the Colorado Music Festival as a guest conductor.
Premieres
Giora Bernstein has played in or conducted the world premieres of the following works:- Peter Pindar Stearns' String Quartet No. 3 in A minor (Giora Bernstein and Sheila Manuel, violins; Jesse Levine, viola; Joanne Manuel, cello), New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, 21 February 1958. - John Bavicchi's Sonata for violin and piano No. 2 (Giora Bernstein, violin; George Zilzer, piano) Boston, Massachusetts, 26 July 1959
- Malloy M. Miller's Poem (Giora Bernstein, violin; George Zilzer, piano) Brookline, MassachusettsBrookline, MassachusettsBrookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
, 16 November 1960 - William Thomas McKinleyWilliam Thomas McKinleyWilliam Thomas McKinley is an American composer and jazz pianist. He has written more than 300 musical compositions, many of which have been recorded by such ensembles as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony...
's Concerto for clarinet and orchestra (Richard StoltzmanRichard StoltzmanRichard Stoltzman is an American clarinetist. Born Richard Leslie Stoltzman in Omaha, Nebraska, he spent his early years in San Francisco, California and Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from Woodward High School in 1960. Today, Stoltzman is part of the faculty list at the New England Conservatory...
, clarinet; Colorado Music Festival Orchestra; Giora Bernstein, conductor) Boulder, ColoradoBoulder, ColoradoBoulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, 5 July 1980
Sources
- Boston Symphony Orchestra, Concert Bulletins, Issues 1-12, 1963
- Blotner, Linda Solow, The Boston Composers Project: A bibliography of contemporary music, MIT Press, 1983. ISBN 0262021986
- Bernstein, Giora G., The influence of oriental music idioms on the contemporary music of Israel, Boston University, 1966.
- Chihara, PaulPaul ChiharaPaul Seiko Chihara is an American composer.Chihara was born in Seattle, Washington in 1938. A Japanese American, he spent several years of his childhood with his family in an internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho....
, Liner notes: Chihara Guitar Concerto, Albany RecordsAlbany RecordsAlbany Records is an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987, and is based in Albany, New York.-External links:**...
, 2005 (accessed 13 December 2009) - International Leo Kestenberg Society, Biography: Giora Bernstein (accessed 13 December 2009)
- Siddons, James, Toru Takemitsu: a bio-bibliography, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. ISBN 0313272379
- Sigma Alpha IotaSigma Alpha IotaSigma Alpha Iota , International Music Fraternity for Women. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its members and the general public...
, Pan Pipes, Volume 50, Issue 2, 1958 - Shulgold, Marc, 20 Years of High Notes, Giora Bernstein Ignores Naysayers to Build the Award-winning Colorado Music Festival, Rocky Mountain NewsRocky Mountain NewsThe Rocky Mountain News was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As of March 2006, the Monday-Friday circulation was 255,427...
, 12 June 1996 (accessed 13 December 2009 via subscription) - Shulgold, Marc, "Building a better fest", Rocky Mountain News, 22 June 2006 (accessed 13 December 2009)
- University of Colorado at Boulder, Faculty - College of Music (accessed 13 December 2009)