Ofer Ben-Amots

Ofer Ben-Amots
Background information
Born	October 20, 1955 (1955-10-20) (age 56), Haifa, Israel
Occupations	Composer
Instruments	Piano
Website	http://www.oferbenamots.com/

Ofer Ben-Amots (עופר בן-אמוץ; born October 20, 1955) is a classical 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 Judeo-Spanish Ladino traditions. The interweaving of folk elements with contemporary textures creates the dynamic tension that permeates and defines Ben-Amots’ musical language.^[1]

Biography

Born in Haifa, Israel, Ofer Ben-Amots gave his first piano concert at age nine and at age sixteen was awarded first prize in the Chet Piano Competition. Later, following composition studies with Joseph Dorfman at Tel Aviv University, he was invited to study at the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland. There he studied with Pierre Wismer and privately with Alberto Ginastera. Ben-Amots is an alumnus of the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany, where he studied with Martin C. Redel and Dietrich Manicke and graduated with degrees in composition, music theory, and piano. Upon his arrival in the United States in 1987, Ben-Amots studied with George Crumb.^[2] at the University of Pennsylvania where he received his Ph.D. in music composition. Currently on the faculty of Colorado College, Ben-Amots is an Associate Professor of music composition and theory.^[3]

Ofer Ben-Amots was the winner of the 1994 Vienna International Competition for Composers with his comic opera, Fool’s Paradise.^[4] The chamber opera based on a short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer was premiered in Vienna and has become subsequently part of the 1994/95 season of Opernhaus Zürich.^[5] His Avis Urbanus for amplified flute was awarded First Prize at the 1991 Kobe International Competition for Flute Composition in Japan, and a required composition at the 1993 Kobe Flute Competition. In 1999, Ben-Amots was awarded the Aaron Copland Award and the Music Composition Artist Fellowship by the Colorado Council on the Arts. In 2004 he won the Festiladino,^[6] an international contest for Judeo-Spanish songs, a part of the Israel Festival in Jerusalem. Ben-Amots is a member of the Advisory Board and the Editorial Board of the Milken Archive of American-Jewish Music.^[7] In addition, he is a Jerusalem Fellow of the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity and its Artistic Director for North America since 1997.^[8]

Ben-Amots' music has been published by Kallisti Music Press, Muramatsu Inc., Dorn, Tara Publications, and the Composer's Own Press. It can be heard on Naxos Records,^[9] Vantage, Plæne, Stylton, and Music Sources recording labels.

Discography

• Celestial Dialogues (2004)
• Te Laudamus (2007)

Compositions

Stage music

• Pierrot, ballet Suite for symphony orchestra. 1981 (50')
• Story Number 2, for small orchestra and Narrator Text written by Eugène Ionesco.1983/88 (13')
• Fool’s Paradise, opera buffa in five scenes. Based on a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer. 1993-94 (80')
• The Dybbuk, multimedia chamber opera in three acts. 2007 (90’)

Voice and orchestra

• Shirat Israel, cantata for mezzo-soprano and orchestra. Hebrew text by Ch. N. Bialik. 1978 (12')
• The Joyce Cycle, for middle voice and symphony orchestra Lyrics written by James Joyce. 1984-85 (25')
• Celestial Dialogues, for voice, clarinet and string orchestra. 1994 (30’)
• The Dybbuk Suite, for chamber symphony and a solo vocalist. 2002 (17’)
• Songs from the Pomegranate Garden, a Judeo-Spanish cycle for chamber symphony and a mezzo-soprano. 2004/05 (22’)

Orchestra music

• Fanfare, for symphony orchestra, Kavannagh Prize Awarded. 1988 (6')
• Variations on a French Children’s Song, for symphony orchestra. 1992 (7’)
• Mt. Fuji Ceremonial Fanfare, for symphonic band. 1996 (10’)
• The Klezmer Concerto, for clarinet solo, string orchestra, harp and percussion. 2006 (25’)

Choir and instruments

• Al Naharot Bavel (By the Rivers of Babylon), four part canon for mixed choir, Piano and Percussion Text Psalm 137. 1988 (4')
• Psalm 81 (Upon Gitith), for mixed choir and Metal Percussion. Text: Psalm 81. 1989 (13')
• Hashkivenu (Cause us, Oh God to Lie Down in Peace), for SATB Chorus, organ and mixed percussion. 1989/90 (8')
• Three Love Songs, for Mixed Choir and Piano Accompaniment. 1991 (5')
• Mizmor – Ten Degrees of Praise (Psalm 150), for soprano solo, clarinet, men’s choir, and percussion. 2003 (11’)
• The Heart and the Fountain, for SATB Chorus or for Female chorus with misc. percussion. 2006 (8'30")
• A Fool’s Journey, for 8-Part mixed chorus, piano and percussion Lyrics written by Süsskind von Trimberg (13th century) 1996, Rev. 2008 (12')

Choir a cappella

• Hineh Al Heharim (Here on the Mountains), four to eight part canon for mixed choir a cappella. Text: Nachum 2, 1-3. 1987 (4'30")
• Ma Tishtochachi Nafshi (Why So Downcast, My Soul), - for mixed chorus. Text: Psalm 42. 1987/88 (5'30")
• Yeeheyu Le’ratzon (May the Words), for SATB Chorus. Text out of the Amidah prayer. 1989/90 (5')
• Five Hassidic Songs, for SATB Chorus or Female chorus. Arrangements of traditional Hassidic songs with or without piano accompaniment. 1999/2000 (10')

Vocal chamber music

• Shtetl Songs, for voice and piano (also a version for mixed chorus) 1985/86 (18')
• Psalm 23, for Soprano, Clarinet and Percussion. 1990 (5')
• Kinah (Lament), for piano and high-voice 1998 (8’)
• Songs from the Pomegranate Garden, for voice and piano. Based on Judeo-Spanish songs. 2004 (20’)
• Three Popular Songs (Ladino), for voice and piano. 2006 (10’)
• The Dybbuk Song Cycle, for voice and piano. Based on the opera. 2008 (25’)
• The Sweet Pain of Love, for violin and voice, to a poem by Nathan Zach. 2008 (9’)

Instrumental chamber music

• Ceremonial Music, for saxophone, trumpet and piano. 1982 (11')
• Hashkivenu, for string quartet. 1982 (10')
• Sonata, for cello and piano. 1982 (23')
• Five Ancient Dances, for clarinet (or flute) and piano. 1983 (13')
• Midnight Dance, for violin (or cello) and piano. 1996 (8')
• Cantillations, for clarinet and cello (or viola) 1997 (10')
• Prophetic Tropes, (Te'amey Nevu’ah,) for trombone (or bass trombone) and extended piano. 1989/99 (11')
• Elemental Drums, Music for Dance. for mixed wind ensemble, 3 percussionists, and guitar. 1997 (12’)
• The Queen City Fanfare, for trumpet and organ (version for solo trumpet and brass choir) 2002 (5’)
• The Queen City Fanfare, (Inaugural Fanfare,) an additional version for oboe, piano, and percussion. 2002 (5’)
• The Odessa Trio (in memory of J. Dorfman,) for violin, cello and piano. 2008 (25’)

Piano and organ solo

• Toccata 1978
• Scherzo 1978
• Etude in C 1984
• Praeludium and Fuga in C 1984
• Piano Pieces for Children 1983/89
• Sonatina 1984

  – Praeludium

  – Midnight Dance

  – Mosquito

  – Tambourine

• Haunted Toccata 1990
• Untitled No. 1 1990
• Akëda, 2000 (8’)
• The Quasquicentennial Organ Book, for organ solo 1998/2008

  – Processional 1999 (5')

  – Pastoral Invocation 1998 (7')

  – The Q Anthem 1999 (5')

  – Teru'ah (Recessional) 2008 (5')

Other solo instruments

• Miniatures et Collage, for flute. 1977 (5’30”)
• Avis Urbanus, for amplified flute. 1990 (10’)
• I, Jerusalem ..., for any size clarinet solo. 1991 (4’)
• A Letter to Avigdor, for violin solo. Commissioned by Avigdor Zamir. 1990/99 (10’)
• The Angel's Lament, for clarinet solo. Commissioned by Guido Arbonelli. 1999 (60")
• The Red Curtain Dance, for oboe or clarinet solo. 2003 (6’)

Orchestral arrangements

• Armenian Suite, by Richard Yardumian. A reduction of the original score, for small symphonic orchestra. 1992
• Massada, - Opera in three acts by Fredrick Kaufman. A piano reduction of the original score. 1990

References

1. ^ McMurtery, John. "Extended Techniques for Flute: Polyphonic Techniques". http://cnx.org/content/m14066/latest/. "This example, from Ofer Ben-Amots’ Avis Urbanus, contains a unique use of singing and playing. The flutist sustains a single note, while singing the highest pitch possible for the voice and bending the pitch downward." 
2. ^ Bruns, Steven; Ben-Amots, Ofer, eds (2005). George Crumb and the Alchemy of Sound: Essays on His Music. Colorado College Music Press. pp. 360. ISBN 13 978-093595-207-7. 
3. ^ The Colorado College Music Faculty
4. ^ About the opera Fool's Paradise
5. ^ Hofmann, Paul (November 27, 1994). "WHAT'S DOING IN; Zurich". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE2DA1F31F934A15752C1A962958260. Retrieved 2008-12-23. 
6. ^ Festiladino 2004
7. ^ The Milken Archive Editorial Board and Staff
8. ^ CJCC Leadership
9. ^ Biography on Naxos Records' site

External links

• Official Website
• The Dybbuk Project - A Multimedia Chamber opera
• A Dialogue with Ofer Ben-Amots

Persondata
Name	Ben-Amots, Ofer
Alternative names
Short description	Composer
Date of birth	1955-10-20
Place of birth	Haifa, Israel
Date of death
Place of death