Alex Jacobowitz

)

In 1991, he shifted his street-show activity primarily to Europe, from Aachen to Zürich, and most cities in between. Jacobowitz has performed classic and Jewish traditional music for millions of television viewers in Germany (ARD, ZDF, Third Programmes), and occasionally in Hungary, Israel, Italy, Luxemburg, South Korea, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Russia and Ukraine.

In 1994, he began the study of traditional Jewish instrumental music (klezmer) with Giora Feidman. In 1997, he encountered Brave Old World in concert, and shortly thereafter intensified his Jewish music activities under Alan Bern, their musical director.

In 2006, he was one of the few street-performers invited to perform at the Busker's Festival in Ferrara, Italy, the largest and most important festival of its kind. He has won competitions in Lucerne (1994), Ludwigsburg (2004) and Osnabrück (2007).

Solo klezmer appearances include:

*Festivals in Jerusalem, Schleswig-Holstein, Safed, Kraków, Fürth, Bamberg, etc.
*Synagogues throughout Germany, including Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue in Berlin
*Chabad Houses in Prague, Geneva, Zürich, etc.
*The Jewish Museum in Frankfurt, Hackescher Hoftheater in Berlin
*Jewish communities in Basel, Berlin, Leipzig, Lisbon, Munich, Vienna, many other European cities.
*Kibbutz Nahal Oz, Kibbutz Ma'ale HaChamisha, Settlement Mitzpe Jericho, etc.
*Jewish weddings, bar mitzvas and yeshivas throughout the world

He has performed with Shelly Lang's "Neshoma Orchestra" (NYC), the " Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra", the "Berlin Kammerphilharmoniker" and others.

His "Art of Xylos" CD was released in 2002 by Sony-BMG under the Arte Nova label, and was nominated for the Echo Prize (Germany's Grammy) under the crossover category. His book "A Classical Klezmer: Travel Stories of a Jewish Musician" (1998, Munich) is being prepared for its third edition. He endorses xylophones produced by Adams Company, Holland.

Recordings

*"¡Marimba!" - Bach, Beethoven, Couperin. Analogue. (1986)
*"Aria" - Classical works by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Scarlatti, Albéniz, Tárrega. Digital. (1995)
*"The Art of Touching Wood" - the music of J.S. Bach. Digital. (1996)
*"Spanish Rosewood" - the music of Spain: D. Scarlatti, Granados, Tárrega, Albéniz, etc. Digital (1997)
*"Etz Chaim" (Tree of Life) - Jewish traditional: Synagogue music, Yiddish and Israeli songs, klezmer. Digital (1998)
*"The Art of Xylos" - de Falla, J.S. Bach, Tárrega, Mussorgsky, Schumann, Beethoven, Mozart, Satie, etc. Surround (2002) BMG Entertainment
*"Fantasy" - the music of J.S. Bach. Surround (2006)

Film Appearances

*"Heavenly Sounds" (צלילים לאלהים) - Dir. Idit Gideon, 1991, Israel
*"Spielmänner" - Bayerischer Rundfunk, 1995, Germany
*"Denk ich an Deutschland...: Ein Fremder." - Dir. Peter Lilienthal, Germany, 2001
*"Magic Marimbas" - Dir. Eveline Hempel, 2003, Germany
*"Klezmer on Fish Street" - Dir. Yale Strom, 2004, USA
*"Da Spielt die Musik" - Dir. Benedikt Kuby, 2005, Germany
*"Auf jüdischem Parkett" - Dir. Esther Slevogt & Arielle Artsztein, Germany, 2005
*"Klezmer in Germany" - Dir. Caroline Goldie & Krzysztof Zanussi, BBC, WDR, Czech TV. Germany, 2007

References

A Classical Klezmer: Travel Stories of a Jewish Musician, by Alex Jacobowitz. Tree of Life, Munich, 1998. ISBN 3-00-003226-6

www.alexjacobowitz.com

External links

* [http://www.alexjacobowitz.com Alex Jacobowitz's web site]
* [http://www.marimba.org www.marimba.org]
* [http://www.klezmer.de Klezmer music in Germany]
* [http://www.jajah.com/Alex_Jacobowitz Call Alex Jacobowitz through Jajah]

Persondata
NAME=Jacobowitz, Alex
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=classically-trained street performer
DATE OF BIRTH=May 19, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH=New York
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=