Giora Bernstein (born 1933) is a conductor, classical violinist, and

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of Music at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

.International Leo Kestenberg Society He was the founder of the

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 Auditoriu ...

and its Artistic Director for 24 years.

Biography

Giora Bernstein was born in Vienna 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 Leo Kestenberg (27 November 1882 – 13 January 1962) was a German-Israeli classical pianist, music educator, and cultural politician. Working for the government in Prussia from 1918, he began a large-scale reform of music education (''Kestenbe ...

. In 1955, he went to the United States, where he studied violin with Edouard Dethier at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

, and later received a Master of Fine Arts in composition from

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , ...

. He went on to study for his Doctorate in Music at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

, 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 Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became t ...

. 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

. The following year, he founded the

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 Seiko Chihara (born July 9, 1938) is an American composer. Life and career Chihara was born in Seattle, Washington in 1938. A Japanese American, he spent three years of his childhood with his family in an internment camp in Minidoka, Idah ...

's ''Grass'', and the Colorado Music Festival, where both

Tōru Takemitsu was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu was admired for the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre. He is known for combining elements of oriental and occidental phil ...

's ''Dreamtime'' and

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', ' ...

'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.

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 City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, 21 February 1958.Sigma Alpha Iota (1958) p. 72 *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, Massachusetts, 16 November 1960 * William Thomas McKinley's ''Concerto for clarinet and orchestra'' (

Richard Stoltzman Richard Leslie Stoltzman (born July 12, 1942) is an American clarinetist. Born 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 ...

, clarinet; Colorado Music Festival Orchestra; Giora Bernstein, conductor) Boulder, Colorado, 5 July 1980

References

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. * Bernstein, Giora G.
''The influence of oriental music idioms on the contemporary music of Israel''
Boston University, 1966. * Chihara, Paul
Liner notes: ''Chihara Guitar Concerto''

Albany Records Albany Records is a record label that concentrates on unconventional contemporary classical music by American composers and musicians. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987 and is based in Albany, New York. See also * List of record labe ...

, 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. *

Sigma Alpha Iota Sigma Alpha Iota () is a women's music fraternity. 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 m ...

, ''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 News The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') 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 ...

'', 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

(accessed 13 December 2009) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Giora Jewish classical musicians Israeli classical violinists Austrian classical violinists Male classical violinists Israeli conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Jewish emigrants from Austria to Mandatory Palestine after the Anschluss Musicians from Vienna 1933 births Living people 21st-century Austrian conductors (music) 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century male musicians Pomona College faculty