Yaacov Bergman (; 31 May 1945 – 20 September 2023) was an Israeli-born conductor. He was the

musical director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

and conductor of the

Walla Walla Symphony The Walla Walla Symphony is an orchestra based in Walla Walla, Washington. Founded in 1907, the Walla Walla Symphony is the "oldest continuously operating symphony west of the Mississippi". Yaacov Bergman was music director from 1987 until his ...

from 1987 until his death, conductor of the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and artistic director of the Siletz Bay Music Festival in Oregon. He conducted as a guest worldwide.

Early years

Born in Israel, Bergman took lessons in violin and singing early, but soon was interested in composing and conducting. He studied at the

Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (), is a school for the music and the performing arts in Jerusalem. It is located on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. History The Jerusalem Conservatory of Music was founded in ...

in conducting and composition, and took post-graduate studies at the

Mannes College of Music The Mannes School of Music (), originally called the David Mannes Music School and later the Mannes Music School, Mannes College of Music, the Chatham Square Music School, and Mannes College: The New School for Music, is a Music school, music con ...

in New York with Richard Westenburg. He studied conducting further with

Charles Bruck Charles Bruck (2 May 1911 – 16 July 1995) was a French- American conductor and teacher. Bruck was born in a Jewish family in Temesvár, Banat, then in the Kingdom of Hungary, part of Austro-Hungarian Empire, since 1920 Timișoara in Roma ...

, a student of

Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1 ...

, as well as privately with

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

. In 1998 he was granted an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

Colorado Technical University Colorado Technical University (Colorado Tech or CTU) is a private for-profit university with its main campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1965, CTU offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees, primarily in business, managem ...

. He was musical director of the Colorado Springs Symphony, the New York Heritage Chamber Orchestra, and the 92nd St. Y Symphonic Workshop Orchestra in New York City. He was the

and conductor of the

from 1987 until his death. He was also conductor of the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and artistic director and conductor of the Siletz Bay Music Festival in Lincoln City, Oregon.

International tours

His success in July 1996 in Japan as conductor of the Osaka Opera Company's premiere performance of

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

's opera ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' led to subsequent engagements which included '' La Traviata'' in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

. Bergman guest-conducted with the Osaka Symphonica, a concert tour with the

Israel Chamber Orchestra Israel Chamber Orchestra (abbreviation ICO, Hebrewהתזמורת הקאמרית הישראלית (''Hatizmoret hakamerit'') is an Israeli orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Primary funding comes from the Israel Ministry of Education and the Tel Aviv-Yafo ...

, and he served as principal guest-conductor of the North Atlantic Music Festival in Denmark shortly before his death. Bergman conducted a series of successful symphonic concerts in Cairo in 1995 and 1996 as the first Israeli conductor to appear in an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

republic. Bergman was engaged in a series of performances of Puccini's ''

La Bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

'' in the Philippines, and performances of Mozart's ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'', Bizet's ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'', Puccini's ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'', and ''La Traviata'' for the

Cultural Center of the Philippines The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP; ) is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) established to preserve, develop and promote Arts in the Philippines, arts and Culture of the Philippines, culture in the Philippines.Presid ...

in Manila, where he also conducted numerous symphonic concerts as principal guest conductor of the

Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) is the resident symphony orchestra of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). It is currently under the musical direction of its resident conductor and associate conductor, Dr. Herminigildo Raner ...

North America visits

Bergman guest-conducted with the

Buffalo Philharmonic The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra located in Buffalo, New York led by Music Director JoAnn Falletta. Its primary performing venue is Kleinhans Music Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Each season it ...

, the

San Diego Symphony The San Diego Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in San Diego, California. The orchestra performs at Jacobs Music Center and the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. It serves as the orchestra for the San Diego Opera. History On December 6, ...

, the Edmonton Symphony in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the West Virginia Symphony, the Redlands Symphony, a debut performance with the

Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (German: ''ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien'', or RSO Wien) is the orchestra of the Austrian national broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF). Unlike most other Austrian orchestras, the RSO Wien has a sub ...

, and a third appearance with the

Brooklyn Philharmonic There have been several organisations referred to as the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The most recent one was the now-defunct Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, an American orchestra based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in existence f ...

in New York.

World premieres

Bergman was interested in new music and multi-media concepts. He conducted world premieres of works by American composers including

William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...

Robert Starer Robert Starer (8 January 1924 in Vienna – 22 April 2001 in Kingston, New York) was an Austrian-born American composer, pianist and educator. Robert Starer began studying the piano at age 4 and continued his studies at the Vienna State Academy. ...

John Verrall John Weedon Verrall (June 17, 1908April 15, 2001) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Life Prior to his University studies, Verrall studied composition with Donald Ferguson, followed by studies with R. O. Morris in London ...

and

Gwyneth Walker Gwyneth Van Anden Walker (born 22 March 1947) is an American music educator and composer. Biography Walker was born in New York to a Quaker family and grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut. She began her first efforts at composition at an early age ...

, and by composers from around the world such as

Tzvi Avni Tzvi Jacob Avni (first name sometimes spelled Zvi; ; born Hermann Jakob Steinke, September 2, 1927; Saarbrücken) is an Israeli composer. Biography Tzvi Avni was born in Saarbrücken, (now Germany), and emigrated to Mandate Palestine as a ch ...

Ofer Ben-Amots Ofer Ben-Amots (Hebrew: עופר בן-אמוץ; born October 20, 1955) is an Israeli-American composer and teacher of music composition and theory at Colorado College. His music is inspired by Jewish folklore of Eastern-European Yiddish and Judae ...

Henryk Górecki Henryk Mikołaj Górecki ( , ; 6 December 1933 – 12 November 2010) was a Polish composer of contemporary classical music. According to critic Alex Ross, no recent classical composer has had as much commercial success as Górecki. He became a l ...

Giya Kancheli Gia Kancheli ( ka, გია ყანჩელი; 10 August 1935 – 2 October 2019) was a Georgian composer. He was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and resided in Belgium in later life. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kancheli ...

and

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in p ...

Personal life

Bergman was married to

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

Joan Behrens-Bergman. Yaacov Bergman died on 20 September 2023, at the age of 78.Longtime Walla Walla Symphony Maestro Yaacov Bergman passes away
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References

External links

Yaacov Bergman: Conductor
Gingrich Management *
Walla Walla Symphony

Portland Chamber Orchestra

Siletz Bay Music Festival
* Page, Tim

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 30 May 1984 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Yaacov 1945 births 2023 deaths Israeli conductors (music) Place of birth missing Place of death missing 21st-century conductors (music)