Giora Feidman ( he, גיורא פיידמן; born 25 March 1936) is an Argentine-born Israeli

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitch ...

ist who specializes in

klezmer Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

music.

Biography

Giora Feidman was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, where his

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds o ...

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 A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage v ...

, bar mitzvahs, and holiday celebrations in the

shtetls A shtetl or shtetel (; yi, שטעטל, translit=shtetl (singular); שטעטלעך, romanized: ''shtetlekh'' (plural)) is a Yiddish term for the small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish populations which existed in Eastern Europe before ...

of Eastern Europe. Feidman married Ora Bat-Chaim, his personal manager, in 1975.

Music career

Feidman began his career in

as a member of the Teatro Colón Symphony Orchestra. Two years later he immigrated to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

to become the youngest clarinetist ever to play with the

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is an Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert venue ...

. 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

Berliner Symphoniker The Berliner Symphoniker (''Berlin Symphony Orchestra'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. History The orchestra began its performing activity on 1 September 1967 as ''Symphonisches Orchester Berlin'', under the auspices of t ...

, the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...

, the Polish Chamber Philharmonic, the Munich Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Munich Radio Orchestra. In 1974 the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra commissioned composer Misha Segal to write a concerto for clarinet and orchestra for Giora Feidman. The one-movement piece, which was based on an original

nigun A nigun ( he, ניגון meaning "tune" or "melody", plural nigunim) or niggun (plural niggunim) is a form of Jewish religious song or tune sung by groups. It is vocal music, often with repetitive sounds such as "Bim-Bim-Bam", "Lai-Lai-Lai", ...

, premiered that same year. Movie director

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

invited him to play the clarinet solos for the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

of ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film f ...

'', which won seven

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. Feidman founded the "Clarinet and Klezmer in the Galilee" seminar and master class program, which takes place every year in

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elev ...

, Israel. Clarinet and Klezmer in the Galilee
/ref>

Discography

* Jewish Soul Music (1973) * The Singing Clarinet (1987) * Clarinetango (1990) * The Magic of the Klezmer (1990) * Viva el Klezmer (1991) * Gershwin & The Klezmer (1991) * The Dance of Joy (1992) * Klassic Klezmer (1993) * Concert for the Klezmer (1993) * Der Rattenfanger (1993) *Prokofiev: Overture on Hebrew Themes for Clarinet, String Quartet and Piano, Op. 34, with the Juilliard String Quartet and

Yefim Bronfman Yefim "Fima" Naumovich Bronfman (russian: Ефим Наумович Бронфман; born April 10, 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli-American pianist. Biography Bronfman was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 15. H ...

(May 18, 1994, Princeton, NJ) - Sony Classical * 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) * Very Klezmer (2012) * Feidman plays Beatles! (2017) — Feidman and Rastrelli Cello Quartett

Films

* ''Jewish Soul Music: The Art of Giora Feidman'' (1980), directed by Uri Barbash * ''

'' (1993), directed by

: the clarinet solos

References

External links

*
Giora Feidman
official site

Pianissimo Musik
Giora Feidman

last.fm Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the tracks the user listens to, e ...