Giora Feidman
Encyclopedia
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
ist who specializes in klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
music.
Biography
Giora Feidman was born in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, where his Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
n Jewish parents immigrated to escape persecution. Feidman comes from a family of klezmer musicians. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather made music for weddings
Jewish wedding
A Jewish wedding is a wedding ceremony that follows Jewish law and traditions.While wedding ceremonies vary, common features of a Jewish wedding include a ketuba signed by two witnesses, a wedding canopy , a ring owned by the groom that is given to the bride under the canopy, and the breaking of a...
, bar mitzvahs, and holiday celebrations in the shtetls of Eastern Europe. Feidman married Ora Bat-Chaim, his personal manager, in 1975.
Music career
Feidman began his career in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
as a member of the Teatro Colón Symphony Orchestra. Two years later he immigrated to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
to become the youngest clarinetist ever to play with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. It was originally known as the Palestine Orchestra, and in Hebrew as התזמורת הסימפונית הארץ ישראלית The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit...
. He was a member of the orchestra for over 20 years. In the early 1970s he began his solo career. He has performed with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra
Berlin Symphony Orchestra
The Konzerthausorchester Berlin is a symphony orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. The orchestra is resident at the Konzerthaus Berlin, designed by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel...
, the Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...
, the Polish Chamber Philarmonic, the Munich Chamber Philarmonic Orchestra, and the Munich Radio Orchestra.
Movie director Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
invited him to play the clarinet solos for the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
of Schindler's List
Schindler's List
Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...
, which won seven Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
.
Feidman founded the "Clarinet and Klezmer in the Galilee" seminar and master class program, which takes place every year in Safed
Safed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
, Israel.
Discography
- Jewish Soul Music (1973)
- The Singing Clarinet (1987)
- Clarinetango (1990)
- The Magic of the Klezmer (1990)
- Viva el Klezmer (1991)
- Gerschwin & The Klezmer (1991)
- The Dance of Joy (1992)
- Klassic Klezmer (1993)
- Concert for the Klezmer (1993)
- Der Rattenfanger (1993)
- Feidman in Jerusalem (1994)
- Klezmer Chamber Music (1995)
- The Soul Chai (1995)
- The Incredible Clarinet (1995)
- For You (1996)
- Schelomo/Barakashot (1996)
- Silence and Beyond — Feidman plays Ora Bat Chaim (1997)
- Feidman in Bayreuth — Lilith — Neun Gesänge der dunklen Liebe (1997)
- Soul Meditation, Harmony of Soul (1997)
- Der Golem — Feidman and the Arditti String Quartet (1997)
- Klezmer Celebration (1997)
- Feidman and Israel Camerata (1998)
- Feidman and Katja Beer — Schubert (1998)
- Journey (1999)
- And the Angels Sing (1999)
- Klezmer and More (2000)
- Rhapsody (2000)
- To Giora Feidman — Your Kletzmer Friends (2000)
- TangoKlezmer (2001)
- Dancing in the Field (2002)
- Feidman plays Piazzolla (2002)
- Love — Feidman plays Ora Bat Chaim (2003)
- Feidman Plays Mozart and More (2003)
- Safad — Feidman and The Safed Chamber Orchestra (2004)
- Ewigkeit dringt in die Zeit (2004)
- Wenn du singst, wie kannst du hassen? (2005)
- Feidman and Eisenberg — Live at St. Severin (2005)
- Crossing Borders (2006)
- Klezmundo (2006)
- Klezmer in the Galilee (2007)
- The Spirit of Klezmer (2008)
- Klezmer & Strings (2009)