Shlomo Gronich
Encyclopedia
Shlomo Gronich is a male Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i composer, singer, songwriter, arranger, and choir conductor.

Biography

Shlomo Gronich grew up in a musical family in Hadera
Hadera
Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain...

. He holds a B.A. in Music Education from Tel Aviv Educational Academy, and a B.A. in Composition from the Mannes School of Music, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. He is married to Michal Adler, a harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

 player.
He wrote a song called shir isralie

Compositions and arrangements

Gronich is most widely known for composing and performing Israeli pop, folk and rock songs. His unique style blends different music genres, including Shirei Eretz Yisraels (the arch typical Israeli music style between 1940–1980), Israeli rock
Israeli rock
Israeli rock is rock music created by Israeli bands and singers.-The development of Israeli rock in the 1960s:Israel's initial attitude toward rock music was extremely negative. Israeli musicians of the time believed it was a trend that would soon pass...

, rhythm and blues, ethnic, Mizrahi music
Mizrahi music
Mizrahi music refers to the music integration that combines elements from Europe, the West, and Middle Eastern/North African countries transported to Israel by migrating Jews. It is usually sung in Hebrew, literary Hebrew and Arabic slang...

, klezmer music and Middle-Eastern.

Albums

He has more than 15 album, including -
  • 1971 Why didn’t you tell me?! (re-mastered version 2003)
  • 1973 Behind the Sounds (With Matti Caspi) (re-mastered version 2002)
  • 1979 concert LIVE
  • 1981 Cotton Candy (re-mastered version 2004)
  • 1988 moonlight walker
  • 1991 neto LIVE
  • 1993 Shlomo Gronich & The Sheba Choir – received Gold Album award
  • 2003 On the Way to the Light
  • 2007 journey to the origins

Music for film

He has composed music for film, writing more than 15 film scores, including -
  • Thousand Small Kisses – First Prize Cognac film festival, Musical Score, Israeli Oscar for musical score (1981)
  • Beyond the Sea - Israeli Oscar for musical score (1991)
  • Circus Palestine - Israeli Oscar for musical score (1998)

Music for theatre

He composed music for more than 20 theatre shows, including -
  • America – a musical, performed at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC (1976)
  • America (revised version) – performed in Santa Fe Festival, New Mexico (1983)
  • The Dream Pilot – a musical performed in Tokyo, Japan (1991)
  • The Golem – a musical performed in Prague, Czech Republic (2002)

Music for ballet

Gronich has also written music for ballet. His dance pieces include -
  • Song of Songs – Inbal Dance Theater
    Inbal Dance Theater
    Inbal Dance Theater is a dance group operating in Israel. The subject matter and materials the group deals with derive from Jewish tradition and heritage, and from the folklore of the various ethnic groups in Israel – Jewish and non Jewish – such as the Yemenite, Moroccan, Persian and Kurdish...

    , David’s Violin Prize (1983)
  • Looking for Jerusalem – Bat Sheva Dance Company, opening production, Israel Festival (1986)

Classical music

Gronich composed more than a hundred classical compositions, many of which were performed by the world's most notable orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic.

Notable performances

  • Appeared with Astor Piazzolla and the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra (1986)
  • Appeared with the Sheba and Moran Choir at the signing of the Jordan-Israel Peace Agreement (1994)
  • Appeared with the Sheba and the Harlem Boys Choir at the Israel Festival (2000)

Jewish-Palestinian collaboration

Gronich composed and arranged a unique Israeli-Palestinian peace and coexistence song, called in Hebrew Hevenu Shalom Aleinu (We brought peace upon us) and in Arabic Ma Ana Ajmal Min Salam (There is nothing more beautiful than peace). He gathered together a group of Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian singers and musicians to perform a beautiful, Middle-Eastern-style song, with a melody that combines Israeli rock
Israeli rock
Israeli rock is rock music created by Israeli bands and singers.-The development of Israeli rock in the 1960s:Israel's initial attitude toward rock music was extremely negative. Israeli musicians of the time believed it was a trend that would soon pass...

, Arab pop
Arabic pop music
Arabic pop music or Arab pop is a subgenre of Pop music and Arabic music.Arab pop is mainly produced in Cairo, with Beirut as a secondary center...

, and Mizrahi
Mizrahi music
Mizrahi music refers to the music integration that combines elements from Europe, the West, and Middle Eastern/North African countries transported to Israel by migrating Jews. It is usually sung in Hebrew, literary Hebrew and Arabic slang...

 musical elements (see #External links). The song was commissioned by the organization Peace Child Israel and adopted as its anthem. The lyrics alternate between Hebrew and Arabic, culminating in the refrain which is sung simultaneously both in Hebrew and Arabic. In the arrangement of the song, Gronich included the traditional Arab instrument oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...

, and a traditional Jewish musical instrument - the shofar
Shofar
A shofar is a horn, traditionally that of a ram, used for Jewish religious purposes. Shofar-blowing is incorporated in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.Shofar come in a variety of sizes.- Bible and rabbinic literature :...

.

Singers include Shlomo Gronich, Leah Shabat, Zehava Ben
Zehava Ben
Zehava Ben is one of the most popular Israeli female vocalists in the Mizrahi music genre; the Middle Eastern-style of singing rising from Israel's Mizrahi Jewish population, dominating Israeli music in the 1990s and popular ever since.-Early life:...

, Nivine Jaabri, Elias Julianos, Eli Luzon, Lubna Salame, Samir Shukri, and participants from the Peace Child Israel workshops.

Instrumentalists include - Drums: Doron Rafaeli, Bass: Alon Nadel, Percussion: Gadi Seri, Guitar: Shmulik Budagov, Oud: Mikhail Marun, Piano: Shlomo Gronich, Darbuka: Bishara Nadaf, Flute: Amir Milstein, Nai Alfred Hadjar, Violin: Bashir Assad, Clarinet: Chanan Bar-Sela

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK