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| Gil Shohat - Composer & Pianist |
| IcExcellence chosen artist since 2004 |
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"The young composer does not see himself as avant-garde: what matters to him is intelligibility, sensual suggestion, both vocal and instrumental lavishness, and a corresponding level of effectiveness....Shohat represents a generation of composers, in the West too, including Germany, who programmatically behave in an anti-dogmatic fashion. As interpreters who are active on an international level, cosmopolitan, self-assured and articulate, they represent their position with verve..."
Gerhard R. Koch, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Jan. 23, 2001
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Born in 1973, Gil Shohat has already composed nine symphonies, eight concertos for various instruments, three operas, and choral and chamber works as well as other compositions for the piano. In 2001, he received local and international praise for his opera "Alpha and Omega" - the largest original Israeli Opera production ever staged in Israel. Most of his compositions are published by the prestigious Casa Ricordi, which he joined at age 23 as the youngest composer in the company's history.
Shohat's music has been performed by major orchestras: the Berlin Symphony, Rome Opera Orchestra, Pomeriggio Musicale Orchestra of Milan, Cologne Radio Orchestra, Bochum Symphony, and all the major Israeli orchestras including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon Lezion.
Gil embarked upon his musical studies at the age of seven, and at twelve began to compose and perform original piano compositions. He received his first and second degrees from the Rubin Israel Academy and Tel Aviv University, and holds two post-graduate diplomas (piano and composition) from the Santa Cecilia National Academy in Rome. He pursued advanced studies in Cambridge, England.
Gil is involved in an abundance of musical activities in Israel. He is the Composer-in-Residence of the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon Lezion, the Musical Director of twelve music series in Israel as a composer, lecturer and pianist. Gil also headed the musical portion of the Israel Festival, and started as the new Musical Director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra in 2005.
In November 2006, Gil participated in an impressive interdisciplinary show, Badenheim, combining literature, theater, music and dance, at the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv. In this project he joined hands with co-IcExcellence chosen artist: Choreographer Idit Herman. Gil composed the music and conducted the Israeli Cameri Orchestra.
Badenheim, based on the story by Aharon Appelfeld, depicts a group of hedonistic vacationers from the Jewish bourgeoisie in Europe who gather, as they do each year, in Badenheim to await the opening of a colorful arts festival; and ignore the ever more tangible signs of the approaching calamity.
In March 2007 Shohat was invited as the special guest on the opening night of the Santo Domingo Music Festival. Gil's Symphony No. 3, Symphony of Fire, was played by the Festival Orchestra, composed of musicians from the Dominican Republic's National Symphony Orchestra, principals from Europe, and guest musicians from the United States, more than 100 in total, and conducted by Maestro Philippe Entremont.
Awards and Fellowships
Gil Shohat is the recipient of various prestigious prizes and awards in Israel and abroad, including the Rubin Israel Music Academy prize (1993), first prize for composition from the Arthur Rubinstein International Society (1997), Bracha Foundation grant (2001), Israel Theater prize (2002), Prime Minister's prize for composition (2003), AICF grants (1990-8), Rich Foundation grant (2001), Tel Aviv prize (2002), and Rabinovich Foundation grants (2003). He is a laureate of the prestigious Caesarea Edmond Benjamin De Rothschild Foundation (2001).
IcExcellence is supporting Gil in tailor-made artistic programs, and providing special career advancement consulting.
*For more information and to sample Gill's compositions, please visit www.gilshohat.com
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| Press Reviews |
"Shohat is a young man with something to say--and it's worth hearing. He has created a vivid, moving, powerful, and (most important) memorable vehicle for conveying the message that melodic beauty and emotions like love, hatred, jealousy, and remorse are timeless… He speaks with his own resonant voice.
He also makes no apology for writing in a rich, direct, melodic, late-romantic style. The audience at both the premiere and the following night's repeat responded to it with spontaneous, vocal enthusiasm.
A powerful new work by a brilliant young composer and the work of a master sounding fresh and new--it was a night that even the most jaded concert-goer couldn't forget."
Lawrence Hansen, American Record Guide, July/August 2005
"The 'Song of Bathsheba' oratorio succeeds on its own cathartic terms, the big crowd was raucously smitten with it, and Shohat's undeniable skill can only be admired."
Tom Strini, The Milwaukee Sentinel, 23 April 2005
"A real landmark in Israel's cultural life..."
Maariv
"A veritable feast for the senses ...a brilliant composer."
Yediot Aharonot
"...the ultimate master of musical styles."
Haaretz
International Press Reviews for Gil Shohat's Opera "Alpha and Omega"
"Gil Shohat's way of writing has a captivating quality with the expressive lyricism of the vocal parts and multihued instrumentation."
Peter Gradenwitz, Die Welt, May 26, 2001
"Gil Shohat's Alpha and Omega was an immense, unprecedented success. A contemporary opera which received a standing ovation! An opera which even the toughest critics considered an outstanding work by the national opera. Shohat's music is lyrical and emotional, like all of the composer's recent works. It is characterized by a definite, strong and stable vocal line, asserting a versatile style - a musical quest culminating in expressive climaxes, underpinned by harmonic writing and composition and brilliantissimo orchestration."
Gian Luigi Mattietti, L'opera, Mar. 2001
"Shohat is an undeniably masterful orchestrator..."
William Littler, The Toronto Star, Feb. 3, 2001
"Shohat writes with a conviction that makes his heavy chromaticism original and moving."
Wes Blomster, Musical America, Jan. 26, 2001
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