Shlomo Gronich

Infobox musical artist
Name = Shlomo Gronich


Birth_name =
Born = birth date|1949|1|20
Hadera, Israel
Instrument = Singing, piano, accordion, darbouka
Genre = Israeli pop, Israeli R&B, Israeli rock, Middle Eastern music, soul music, Mizrahi, hassidic, improvization
Occupation = Singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader
website = [http://www.shlomogronich.com/ shlomogronich.com]

Shlomo Gronich (born January 20, 1949 in Hadera; Hebrew: שלמה גרוניך) is a male Israeli composer, singer, songwriter, arranger, and choir conductor.

Biography

Shlomo Gronich grew up in a musical family in Hadera. 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. He is married to Michal Adler, an internationally-acclaimed harmonica player.

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 Yisrael" (the archtypical Israeli music style between 1940-1980), Israeli rock, rhythm and blues, ethnic, Mizrahi music, klezmer 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)
* 1981 Cotton Candy (re-mastered version 2004)
* 1991 Shlomo Gronich & The Sheba Choir – received Gold Album award
* 2003 On the Way to the Light

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 Company, 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)

Notable Prizes

* 2001 Hadassah Award, for his work with the Sheba Choir

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, Arab pop, and Mizrahi 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, and a traditional Jewish musical instrument - the shofar.

Singers include Shlomo Gronich, Leah Shabat, Zehava Ben, 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

* [http://www.shlomogronich.com Official website]
* [http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1354574/the_jewish_arab_jazzy_peace_song/ video of Jewish-Arab Peace Song]