UI Center for New Music to present a festival of music by living Israeli composers
The University of Iowa Center for New Music will host an exciting, vibrant, international festival April 17-23 featuring music by living Israeli composers in collaboration with the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.
With support from UI International Programs and their Provost’s Global Forum Award — made possible through the generous support of the Stanley-UI Foundation Support Organization — we’ll welcome the world-famous Meitar Ensemble and its conductor, Pierre-André Valade, to Voxman Music Building and the Iowa City community.
Collaborating with University of Iowa ensembles (jazz, orchestra, wind ensemble and Center for New Music), the festival will present nine free public concerts featuring 32 new and recent compositions by 33 living Israeli composers.
It has been my distinct pleasure and honor to help organize the Contemporary Music from Israel festival, which represents the largest such opportunity to hear — performed live — such an extensive array of current compositions written by Israeli composers, who are men and women living both in Israel and in the U.S.
The music itself reflects the current social and political conditions that exist in today’s society, providing a refreshing and eye-opening break from traditional concerts, which tend to feature works by beloved and famous (but long-dead, and often white male) composers.
The Contemporary Music from Israel festival will showcase music that is new and engaging, repertoire that is out of the ordinary, and as dynamic a diversity of voices as can be found in any living society on Earth. Many of the featured Israeli composers will attend and help lead festival events including a string quartet master class, multiple seminars and an episode of the WorldCanvass program hosted by Joan Kjaer.
The full schedule, along with composer, faculty, and artist bios, can be found at international.uiowa.edu/PGF-music-festival.
The Center for New Music is a modular and flexible ensemble housed within the UI School of Music and is a Rockefeller Foundation organization with a focus on contemporary music. We have a long history of organizing international music festivals, including Austrian (1999) and Russian (2000) festivals, fostering collaborations with groundbreaking composers from those cultures who are now well-known and influential writers.
We know from experience that these events are enriching for our students, faculty, and community, and invigorating for the artists who come together to celebrate their culture and share their work with one another. There is no substitute for this type of live, interactive, generative, and enlightening community event — and we cannot wait to welcome you to enjoy it with us this spring!
David Gompper has lived and worked professionally as a pianist, a conductor, and a composer in New York, San Diego, London, Nigeria, Michigan, Texas, and Iowa. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London, taught at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and received his doctorate from the University of Michigan. His first teaching position was at the University of Texas, Arlington, and since 1991, he has been professor of composition and director of the Center for New Music at the University of Iowa. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the Moscow Conservatory, and he received a Guggenheim Award in 2020. His works have been recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, for the Naxos label.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Israeli contemporary music showcased in upcomiong UI performances
