Osvaldo Golijov
Encyclopedia
Osvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 of classical music.

Biography

Osvaldo Golijov (ˈɡolixof) was born in and grew up in La Plata
La Plata
La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of La Plata partido. According to the , the city proper has a population of 574,369 and its metropolitan area has 694,253 inhabitants....

, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 in the 1920s from Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

.

Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of a lifetime of experience with various types of music. His Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....

 Jewish parents exposed him to the traditional Klezmer music
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

 and liturgical music of their faith. Growing up and going to public school in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 showed him the many musical styles of his family's adopted country, including the tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...

. Once Golijov traveled abroad to continue his studies, the influences of other people and other styles became part of him. What is considered so remarkable about his musical language is that, rather than a pastiche of styles, it is wholly cohesive. It is thought of as vibrant and alive, growing and changing as he does.

Golijov's mother was a piano teacher, his father, a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

. He was raised "surrounded by chamber classical music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

 music, and the new tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...

 of Ástor Piazzolla
Ástor Piazzolla
Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...

," according to his official website. He studied piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 at the local conservatory in La Plata
La Plata
La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of La Plata partido. According to the , the city proper has a population of 574,369 and its metropolitan area has 694,253 inhabitants....

 and studied composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...

 with Gerardo Gandini.

In 1983, Golijov moved to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, where he studied with Mark Kopytman at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy. Three years later, he moved to the United States of America with his wife, Silvia. There he studied with American composer George Crumb
George Crumb
George Crumb is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He is noted as an explorer of unusual timbres, alternative forms of notation, and extended instrumental and vocal techniques. Examples include seagull effect for the cello , metallic vibrato for the piano George Crumb (born...

 at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 before receiving his doctorate
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

.

Golijov is the recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and the Vilcek Prize, among other awards and commissions. He collaborates closely with conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya; vocalists Luciana Souza and Biella de Costa; cellists Yo-Yo Ma, Alisa Weilerstein, Maya Beiser and Matt Haimowitz; the Kamanchech virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor and percussionist Jamey Haddad; ensembles including the Atlanta Symphony, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, Silk Road Ensemble and eighth blackbird
Eighth blackbird
eighth blackbird is a Grammy Award-winning contemporary music sextet based in Chicago. The group derives its name from the eighth stanza of Wallace Stevens' poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird...

; the artist Gronk, playwright David Henry Hwang, and directors Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...

 and Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays...

. He has been composer-in-residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...

, Merkin Hall in New York, the Spoleto USA Festival, the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...

's Music Alive series, Marlboro Music School and Festiva, Ravinia Festival, and several other festivals. In 2010, he composed a commissioned work for 35 American orchestras titled Sidereus, dedicated to legendary arts administrator Henry Fogel and honoring the seventeenth century Italian astronomer Galileo.

Golijov is Loyola Professor of Music at the College of the Holy Cross
College of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is an undergraduate Roman Catholic liberal arts college located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA...

 at Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

, where he has taught since 1991. He is also on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory
Boston Conservatory
The Boston Conservatory is a performing arts conservatory located in the Fenway-Kenmore region of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, dance and musical theater...

. He has three children.

Golijov's music

Golijov and composers Sofia Gubaidulina
Sofia Gubaidulina
Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina, is a Russian composer of half Russian, half Tatar ethnicity.Gubaidulina's music is marked by the use of unusual instrumental combinations...

, Tan Dun
Tan Dun
Tan Dun is a Chinese contemporary classical composer, most widely known for his scores for the movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero.-Early life in China:...

, and Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm is a German composer.Rihm is Head of the Institute of Modern Music at the Karlsruhe Conservatory of Music and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival...

 were commissioned by the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart
Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart
Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart is a foundation in Stuttgart, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1981 to foster international concerts and workshops, namely Musikfest Stuttgart, dedicated especially to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach in relation to present day composition.-Musikfest...

 to write pieces for the Passion 2000 project in commemoration of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

. Golijov's contribution was La Pasión según San Marcos (The Passion according to St. Mark).

He has also composed and arranged works for the Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...

 and the St. Lawrence String Quartet. He frequently works with Venezuelan conductor Maria Guinand
Maria Guinand
Maria Guinand is an internationally renowned choral conductor.María Guinand received her bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Bristol, England in 1976 and 1982, respectively...

, who conducted the world premieres of Oceana (commissioned by the Oregon Bach Festival
Oregon Bach Festival
The Oregon Bach Festival is an annual celebration of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and his musical legacy, held in Eugene, Oregon, United States, in late June and early July. The artistic director is German organist and conductor Helmuth Rilling and the Executive Director is John Evans,...

, 1996) and La Pasión según San Marcos (Stuttgart's European Music Festival, 2000), classical and Klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

 clarinetist David Krakauer
David Krakauer
David Krakauer is an American clarinetist. He is a graduate of the High School of Music & Art, class of 1974. He is mostly known for his klezmer compositions. He became involved with klezmer music in the late 1980s while working as a classical musician, joining The Klezmatics...

, and American soprano Dawn Upshaw
Dawn Upshaw
Dawn Upshaw is an American soprano described as "one of the most consequential performers of our time" by the Los Angeles Times. The recipient of several Grammy Awards and Edison Prize-winning discs, Upshaw is at home both in opera and art song, and in repertoire from Baroque to contemporary...

, who performed premieres of his new opera, Ainadamar (and Arias and Ensembles derived from it) at the Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...

 Festival in 2005, London's Barbican Arts Centre in 2006 and Opera Boston
Opera Boston
Opera Boston is an opera company in Boston, Massachusetts. It specializes in innovative repertoire and rarely heard works, along with opera education and outreach programs designed to bring opera education to children, in schools and after-school programs throughout the Boston area.Its home base is...

 in 2007. His first movie soundtrack experience was for Sally Potter
Sally Potter
Charlotte Sally Potter is an English film director and screenwriter.-Career:Having left school at sixteen to become a filmmaker, Potter joined the London Film-Makers' Co-op and started making experimental short films, including Jerk and Play...

's 2000 film The Man Who Cried
The Man Who Cried
The Man Who Cried is an 2000 Anglo-French film, written and directed by Sally Potter. The film stars Christina Ricci, Cate Blanchett, Johnny Depp, Harry Dean Stanton, and John Turturro....

. More recently he composed for Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...

's movie Youth Without Youth, and original music for Coppola's films Tetro
Tetro
Tetro is a 2009 drama film written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich and Maribel Verdú. Filming took place in 2008 in Buenos Aires, Patagonia, and Spain...

and Twixt.

Golijov received two Grammys in the Grammy Awards of 2007
Grammy Awards of 2007
The 49th Annual Grammy Awards was a ceremony honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning September 15, 2005 and ending September 14, 2006 in the United States. The awards were handed out on Sunday February 11, 2007 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The Dixie Chicks...

—the Best Opera Recording
Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording
The Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording has been awarded since 1961. The award was originally titled Best Classical Opera Production. The current title has been used since 1962....

 for Ainadamar: Fountain of Tears
Ainadamar
Ainadamar means "Fountain of Tears" in Arabic, and is the first opera by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov. The libretto is by American playwright David Henry Hwang. It premiered in Tanglewood on August 10, 2003. After major revisions, the new version premiered at the Santa Fe Opera on July 30,...

and Best Classical Contemporary Composition
Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition
The Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition was first awarded in 1961. This award was not presented from 1967 to 1984.The award has had several minor name changes:...

 for the same opera. Golijov also received a Grammy nomination in 2002 for Yiddishbbuk.

Cornish College of the Arts
Cornish College of the Arts
-Library:The library at Cornish College specializes in art, dance, design, music, performance production, and theatre. As of 2011 it holds 4700 CDs, 40,000 books, has 2,200 videos, and subscribes to 154 periodicals...

 (Seattle) is currently featuring a retrospective on Osvaldo Golijov featuring the ODEONQUARTET on April 22, 2011.
The program includes "Tenebrae", " Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind" (1994), for clarinet and string quartet, "Lullaby and Doina" (2001), for flute, clarinet, string quartet and double bass , "Lúa Descolorida" (2002), for soprano and string quartet and "How Slow the Wind" (2001), for soprano and string quartet.

Deadline controversy

Golijov came under scrutiny in 2011 for a series of high-profile commissions that were either delayed or cancelled. A violin concerto written for the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...

 was not completed in time, and had to be replaced on the program. This followed a similar cancellation in 2010, when a song cycle that was scheduled had to be removed from the program when it was not complete in time. The March 2011 premiere of a new string quartet for the St. Lawrence Quartet
St. Lawrence Quartet
The St. Lawrence Quartet is a Canadian string quartet, and one of Canada's premiere chamber ensembles. It was founded in 1989 and has served residencies at the Juilliard School, Yale University, the University of Toronto, the Hartt School, and Stanford University...

 was also delayed due to a missed deadline.

Discography

  • Tetro
    Tetro
    Tetro is a 2009 drama film written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich and Maribel Verdú. Filming took place in 2008 in Buenos Aires, Patagonia, and Spain...

    (soundtrack) (Deutsche Grammophon, 2009)
  • Youth Without Youth (soundtrack) (Deutsche Grammophon, 2007)
  • Oceana (Deutsche Grammophon, 2007)
  • Ainadamar
    Ainadamar
    Ainadamar means "Fountain of Tears" in Arabic, and is the first opera by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov. The libretto is by American playwright David Henry Hwang. It premiered in Tanglewood on August 10, 2003. After major revisions, the new version premiered at the Santa Fe Opera on July 30,...

    (Deutsche Grammophon, Dawn Upshaw, Robert Spano, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra)
  • Ayre (Deutsche Grammophon CD 00289 477 5414)
  • La Pasión según San Marcos The Passion according to St. Mark (Hänssler Classic 98404, 2001)
  • La Pasión según San Marcos The Passion according to St. Mark (two versions: live performance on DVD, Holland Festival, Amsterdam, 22 June 2008 and studio CD, Caracas, both performances are on Deutsche Grammophon B0014008-00)
  • Yiddishbbuk (EMI Classics 57356-2)
  • The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind performed by the Kronos Quartet
    Kronos Quartet
    Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...

     (Nonesuch 79444)
  • Nuevo arrangements for the Kronos Quartet
    Kronos Quartet
    Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...

     (Nonesuch 79649)
  • The Man Who Cried (soundtrack) (Sony Classical SK 61870)
  • Caravan arrangements for the Kronos Quartet
    Kronos Quartet
    Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...

     (Nonesuch 79490)
  • Voices of Light Golijov's composition Lúa Descolorida sung by soprano Dawn Upshaw
    Dawn Upshaw
    Dawn Upshaw is an American soprano described as "one of the most consequential performers of our time" by the Los Angeles Times. The recipient of several Grammy Awards and Edison Prize-winning discs, Upshaw is at home both in opera and art song, and in repertoire from Baroque to contemporary...

     (Nonesuch 79812)
  • Night Prayers Golijov's composition K'vakarat on recording of the Kronos Quartet
    Kronos Quartet
    Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...

     (Nonesuch 79346)
  • World to Come Golijov's composition Mariel played by cellist Maya Beiser (Koch Int'l Classics B0000CABC4)
  • Goulash composition Oración Lucumí on recording by the cellist Matt Haimovitz
    Matt Haimovitz
    Matt Haimovitz is an Israeli-born cellist now based in the United States and Canada. He mainly plays a cello made by Matteo Gofriller in 1710.-Family, musical education and early career:...

     (Oxingale)
  • Anthem Golijov's composition Omaramor on recording by cellist Matt Haimovitz (Oxingale 1238)
  • Klezmer Concertos and Encores composition Rocketekya on recording of klezmer
    Klezmer
    Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

     music (Naxos B0000C508L)
  • Borromeo String Quartet
    Borromeo String Quartet
    The Borromeo String Quartet is an American string quartet, in residence at the New England Conservatory since 1992. They have performed throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia, at numerous festivals and in many distinguished chamber music series...

     Living Archive
    February 29, 2004 (CD/DVD/VHS) Golijov's compositions Yiddishbbuk and Tenebrae
  • Voices of Our Time – Dawn Upshaw (DVD) Golijov's composition Lúa Descolorida (TDK VTDU)

Film composer

  • The Man Who Cried
    The Man Who Cried
    The Man Who Cried is an 2000 Anglo-French film, written and directed by Sally Potter. The film stars Christina Ricci, Cate Blanchett, Johnny Depp, Harry Dean Stanton, and John Turturro....

    (2000)
  • 11'09"01 September 11 (2002)
  • Youth Without Youth (2007)
  • Tetro
    Tetro
    Tetro is a 2009 drama film written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich and Maribel Verdú. Filming took place in 2008 in Buenos Aires, Patagonia, and Spain...

    (2009)
  • The Oath
    The Oath (2010 film)
    The Oath is a 2010 documentary from director Laura Poitras. It tells the cross-cut tale of two men, Abu Jandal and Salim Ahmed Hamdan, whose meeting launched them on juxtaposed paths with Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, 9/11, US military tribunals and the U.S. Supreme Court...

    (2010)
  • Twixt (2011, with Dan Deacon
    Dan Deacon
    Dan Deacon is an American composer and electronic musician based out of Baltimore, Maryland. Since 2003, Deacon has released eight albums under several different labels...

    )

External links

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