Giora Feidman (; born 25 March 1936) is an Argentine-born Israeli

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

ist who specializes in

klezmer Klezmer ( 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 listening; these wou ...

music.

Biography

Giora Feidman was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, where his

Bessarabia Bessarabia () 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 of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

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,

bar mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

s, 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

as a member of the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...

Symphony Orchestra. Two years later he immigrated to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

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 a major Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert ...

. 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

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 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...

, 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 (, 'tune' or 'melody'; pl. nigunim) or niggun (pl. niggunim) is a form of Ashkenazi Jewish vocal music sung in group settings. ''Nigunim'' are melodic tunes, often using repetitive non-lexical vocables such as "bim-bim-bam", "lai-lai- ...

, premiered that same year. Movie director

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

invited him to play the clarinet solos for the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

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 historical novel '' Schindler's Ark'' (1982) by Thomas Keneally. The film follows ...

'', which won seven

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

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

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

, Israel.

Discography

* Jewish Soul Music (1973) * Nigunim of my People (1975) * 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 The Juilliard String Quartet (JSQ) is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York by William Schuman and Robert Mann. Since its inception, it has been the quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School. ...

and

Yefim Bronfman Yefim Naumovich Bronfman (; 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. He was born into a musical Jewish family. His father Naum ...

(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) * Paul Celan - Zweistimmig (2013) - Feidman and

Ben Becker Ben Becker (born 19 December 1964) is a German film, theatre and voice actor. Biography Becker was born in Bremen, the son of actress Monika Hansen and actor Rolf Becker. He is the brother of actress Meret Becker and the stepson of Otto Sander ...

* Klezmer Bridges (2015) - Feidman and Rastrelli Cello Quartet * Feidman plays Beatles! (2017) - Feidman and Rastrelli Cello Quartet * A Tribute To Piazzolla (2021) - Feidman and Rastrelli Cello Quartet

Films

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

'' (1993), directed by

: the clarinet solos * ''Beyond Silence'' (1996), directed by Caroline Link: as a guest appearance, playing himself

References

External links