The Composer Now

(2019) I am now involved in several projects. The big one is called The Nightmare and the Dream, which is an oratorio for choir, brass ensemble and soloists which takes us from the persecution of Jews in Europe in the Middle Ages through the emergence of Theodore Herzl as a visionary intent on creating a Jewish State, through his works describing such a state and his activities to bring about its actual existance, to the settlers and the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel.

pagewheartThat I write music with a heart is obvious from this drawing my daughter Ariela made when she was 7.

 I also just finished writing two choral pieces based on poems of  the Aztec king Netzahualcoyotl with some Aztec colors. And last December  my first work for children’s choir called “Who is Judah Maccabee?” was premiered, as well as “Quita’l Tas”, (Remove the Tray), a Hanukkah song written for choir a capella, two voices, men and women and in October my work  for mixed choir a capella “Isaiah Said” was also premiered.  Lastly, I did an arrangement of a choral piece by Dr. Diane White-Clayton, “Clap Praise”,  adding strings to a piece written for choir with piano accompaniment. This was a new experience for me, which demanded that instead of getting into my head to dig deeply into my own ideas, I get into another composer’s head, look into his ideas and then help them come out in a more beautiful way through a bigger ensemble of instruments. I will probably continue doing this in the future, parallel to my writing my own new works, as I found it creative and musically satisfying.