Yitzhak Yedid

Yitzhak Yedid
Background information
Born	(1971-09-29) 29 September 1971 (age 49) Jerusalem
Genres	Contemporary classical, Jewish, jazz, avant-garde, experimental, third stream, polystylism
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instruments	Piano
Labels	Challenge, Between the Lines
Website	yedidmusic.com.com

Yitzhak Yedid (Hebrew: יצחק ידיד‎, born 29 September, 1971) is an Israeli-Australian contemporary classical music composer and improvising pianist.

The recipient of numerous awards, Yedid has been announced as the winner of the 2020 Azrieli Foundation Prize for Jewish Music. His winning composition, Kiddushim Ve’ Killulim (Blessings and Curses)[1], was unanimously declared the best new major work of Jewish music by the judges of the Canadian prize. Yedid received a total prize package valued at over $200,000 CAD, which includes a cash award of $50,000 CAD; a world premiere performance of his work by Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne; two subsequent international performances; and a recording released on the Analekta label.[2]

In 2018 Yedid has won the Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship worth $160,000 AUD over a two-year period. The Sidney Myer Creative Fellowships recognise outstanding talent and exceptional courage.^[1]

Yedid awarded the top two prizes in Israel for composers and performers: the Prime Minister's Prize for Composers (2007) and the Landau Prize for Performing Arts (2009).^[2] In 2008 he was awarded the first composition prize for Out to Infinity, a solo work for harp, at the 17th International Harp contest which led to numerous performances and recordings of the piece worldwide. Yedid has been awarded a composer-in- residence position at the Judith Wright Arts Centre (Brisbane, 2010), at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (2008) and at the Gallop House in WA (2021, National Trust of Australia) [3].

Biography[]

Yitzhak Yedid was born in Jerusalem, Israel to a sephardic Jewish family of Syrian and Iraqi descent. His initial formative musical experiences included attending liturgical services at his local synagogue where he imbibed the sounds and rhythms of Syrian-style Baqashot.^[3] He studied at the Rubin Academy of Music and the New England Conservatory in Boston with Ran Blake and Paul Bley in 1997 and 1998.^[4][5] Yedid lives in Australia.^[6] In 2012 he gained a PhD from Monash University in Melbourne and subsequently published Methods of Integrating Elements of Arabic Music and Arabic-Influenced Jewish Music into Contemporary Western Classical Music.^[3][7]

Music career[]

In 1999 Yedid released his first album, Compositions for Solo Piano, for the Musa label. This led to an invitation to perform in Scandinavia as the guest of the pianist Michael Smith, and to a joint recital in Sweden with the pianist Roland Pontinen. In 2001, Yedid's second recording, Inner Outcry, was released, also for Musa. Yedid was commissioned to compose the suite Tachanun for the opening of "The Third Stream" festival in Vienna, Austria, in 2002. This composition has been performed many times in Israel including at the Kfar Blum Chamber Music Festival.

Myth of the Cave was commissioned by German record label Between the Lines. It was released in 2002. The five-movement piece has been performed at festivals in Germany and Austria, at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival in Canada and at the Tel Aviv Jazz Festival in Israel. It is based on Plato's allegory of the cave, about cave dwellers imprisoned in near-darkness since birth whose sense of reality is distorted. One of them escapes to the outside world, reports on what he has seen and is put to death for his revelations.^[5]

In 2003 Yedid composed Passions and Prayers – Sextet in homage to Jerusalem for Between the Lines. It is a technically complex and conceptually melancholy composition that premiered at the 2004 Israel Festival. The CD was released in August 2005.

Reflections upon Six Images was commissioned for the Third Stream Festival in Vienna Austria in 2004. The music depicts the union and division of images, colours, textures, styles and cultures inspired by the world of the imagination. The composition was performed at the Vienna festival in September 2004 and at the Etnakhta concert series in November 2004 in Israel. The CD was released at the end of 2005.

In 2005, Yedid composed the Oud Bass Piano Trio, performed at the Sibiu Festival in Romania, as well as in Australia, Canada, and the US in May and September 2005. In 2002, he joined Israeli jazz saxophonist Abatte Barihun to form the duo Ras Deshen. They recorded their maiden album in September 2002, which featured a blend of Ethiopian music and Free improvisation jazz.

Since immigrating to Australia in 2007, his large scale works include: seven string quartets (Visions, Fantasies & Dances), commissioned by Israel's Sapphire String Quartet; Piano Concerto (2016), commissioned by Michael Kieran Harvey and the ; Kiddushim & Killulim (2017) commissioned by Christian Lindberg & ; Delusions of War (2014) for 22 string soloists or string orchestra, commissioned by Divertimenti Ensemble and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra; Mandolin Concerto (2016), for mandolin and a large orchestra.

Yedid's chamber and solo works include: Chad Gadya (2017), quartet for clarinet, violin, cello & piano, commissioned by Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival; Sensations (2010) for piano, violin and cello, commissioned by Atar Trio; Angles' Revolt (2017) chaconne for solo piano, commissioned by Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition; Out to Infinity (2009) for Harp solo, commissioned by the 2009 International Harp Contest for their 50th Anniversary; The Crying Souls, Lament for Syrian Victims (2013), a cappella choir, commissioned by the (TAV)

Yedid has put out over ten albums as a solo act (Challenge Records International, Sony, Naxos, -btl-, Muse, MCI, and Kaleidos) and has collaborated Ethiopian-born saxophonist and vocalist Abate Berihun as the Ras-Deshen ensemble.^[8]

Yedid's works for strings – 'Visions, Fantasies and Dances' for string quartet (2006–09) and 'Delusions of War' for string orchestra (2014), "show sophisticated and idiomatic writing for the strings – both individually and as an ensemble. These works are impressive in their scope and colour and variety of instrumental technique. It's also inventive throughout." Yedid's compositions 'Oud Bass Piano Trio' (2006) and 'Arabic Violin Bass Piano Trio' (2008) combine a classical Arabic instrument with Western instruments. Randal McIlroy, Coda Magazine (Canada) wrote "Pianist/composer Yitzhak Yedid's Oud Bass Piano Trio conveys terrific tension, aggravation and release. It's a stunner. Minimizing the distinction between composition and improvisation, the music is entrusted to supple hands.", and jazz journalist Alain Drouot wrote for the prestigious Downbeat Magazine (US) that "Yedid's trio explores a wide range of emotions and tones, even if a dark and mournful mood prevails. The musicians' vivid interpretations produce a positive flow of energy that keeps the music alert and compelling, and Yedid is capable of striking lyricism. Jazz musicians often describe their art as storytelling. Yedid embodies this."

Some of Yedid's works have been described as Third Stream, which combines contemporary classical music with jazz improvisation. Much of Yedid's output includes slots where soloists can improvise. Yedid has often said he is delighted when performers surprise him with their inventiveness.^[3]

Musical style and influences[]

Yedid says his music is influenced by Arabic music. "When I was a child I went to the Syrian synagogue, where you hear all the melodies in the Arabic scales. I'm using microtonals in my compositions, and also using the Hassidic and Orthodox Jewish scales. This is all with free jazz and classical music, in equal parts."^[5]

Yedid's music contains a mix of elements. He says: "I'm dealing with very classical things, also with jazz and folk things—but it's not classical and it's not jazz and it's not folk. I'm using various techniques, like a painter who's trying to use all the materials he knows about. I'm trying to bring all these different elements together. My music is like a story – it's like a film or a play."^[5]

Yedid writes "In Israel, I grew up acutely aware of the tensions caused by the animosity between Palestinians and Israelis. Of profound significance were the sensory images of the shocking terror attack that occurred in a mall in central Jerusalem on December 3, 2001. The destruction and suffering caused by the two suicide bombers was devastating and continues to haunt me to this day. This attack killed eleven innocent boys including my relative 19-year-old Moshe Yedid-Levy. However, in my music, my intention is not to refer directly to experiences such as this but rather to look at Arabic and Jewish matters from a human perspective and in conjunction with philosophical and religious concerns. I am a strong believer in the power of music to bring about understanding, change and reform in societies, and perhaps also between nations. It is my wish to convey the idea of cultural pluralism."^[9]

And "My music presents a philosophy that I believe should also apply in our day-to-day interactions between individuals and between nations and religions. We should acknowledge the past (our tradition and our history) accepting that, no matter what, we are not able to change that which has already occurred but we can try to understand why it occurred. We must also cognizant of the fact that we are the ones who are creating the "new tradition" and that to this we are able to make changes. My music reflects my passion to create progress and change in composition and in performance of Western classical music; it is a product of what I believe is a natural process of integration over time. I was born in Jerusalem to a family that migrated to Israel from Syria and Iraq early in the 2oth century. At home, we harboured a deep desire to preserve our musical heritage of hundreds of years. However my formal music education was in Western classical music and I have studied and played the piano. I have an intimate connection to my past, to my historical traditions and culture, and to my musical traditions as well as to Western music. Out of these influences, I was able to compose and to propose new compositional approaches to Western classical music.

Rabbi Hillel the Elder, the renowned Jewish sage and the principal of the Sanhedrin, an ancient Jewish court of sages, used to say: "If I am not for myself who will be for me? Yet, if I am for myself only, what am I? And if not now, when?" (Avot 1:14).

This quotation from Rabbi Hillel the Elder about the duty of a person to not only be concerned for himself but also to worry and contribute to society reflects my feeling about composing. I believe that one should strive to develop a personal voice and be an individual, not solely for oneself, but also for others, as individuality is a necessary step in any contribution to broader society."^[9]

Yedid's style of composition has been described as "eclectic, multicultural and very personal- a style that combines jazz and Jewish cantor music, classic European and avant-garde, randomness and a blend of techniques."^[10] Barry Davis wrote in the Jerusalem Post (2017), "Over the past couple of decades or so, Yedid has put out an almost bewilderingly eclectic range of works and recordings. His disciplinary backdrop takes in Western classical music, jazz, free improvisation, Arabic music and liturgical material. His compositions are generally viscerally and cerebrally engaging, and often visually striking, with the piano- playing role requiring a certain amount of calisthenic activity and a significant dosage of emotional and technical investment."^[11] Yedid writes "Looking for new compositional approaches and challenging musical conventions through the synthesis of a wide spectrum of contemporary and ancient styles is what motivated my work. Intellectual conflicts such as the confrontation with philosophical matters and religious and political aspects have always been of interest, and also underlie and motivated my work. I have been influenced in particular by Béla Bartók and Arnold Schoenberg to develop a personal vision as a composer."^[12] This words by Yedid are inline with what the critics write about his music: John Shand from the Sydney Morning Herald wrote in 2014 about Yedid's Myth of the Cave "a vividly expansive composition";^[13] Noam Ben-Zeav (Haaretz) wrote in 2013 that "Yedid music is an authentic expression of new music which incorporates a wide spectrum of contemporary and ancient styles";^[14] and Ake Holmquist (NorraSkåne, Sweden) wrote in 2004 that "Yedid integrates specific stylistic influences into a personal created unity. The manner in which he describes folkloristic influences and melancholic specific themes can remind of Béla Bartók; improvisatory float of hovering à la Keith Jarrett". Musically, Yedid creates a confluence between the Maqamat (Arabic music modal system), heterophonic textures of ancient genres, and compositional approaches of contemporary Western classical music, to produce an original sound. Yedid introduces microtonality in his works in a range of different ways. He examined ways of using microtonal pitches that in Arabic music function as ornamentation and as part of improvisational gestures. He has extended the use of traditional ornamentation to compose microtonal sounds with microtonal qualities that unfold at different tempi without a definite pitch. This can be seen in many of his works. In his string quartet Visions, Fantasies and Dances, the microtonal intervals function in the context of diatonic and chromatic intervals and the method of a tension-and-release for intervals of a quarter-tone and three-quarter-tones have been employed. Yitzhak Yedid also writes "my work could be viewed as the beginning of my research of integrating classical Arabic music, Arabic-influenced Jewish music and contemporary Western classical music. There are areas that need further exploration in different contexts. These include examining the possibilities in compositions with different types and combinations of instruments. The possibilities drawn in my works should be examined with these instruments and with the new challenges associated with its performance practice. Large ensemble works and the integration of various instrumental combinations of performers from Group A and Group B are other aspects that merit exploration. This includes examining how traditional Arabic instruments can be integrated into Western ensemble as a soloist (perhaps in a concerto format), and also how mixed ensembles of various performers including traditional instruments could be integrated."

Yedid have shown a new direction in his later works and courage to make a commentary on international currant political/religious problems that continue to find no resolution. The Crying Souls (commissioned by the Australian Voices) and Delusions of War (commissioned by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra) are both anti-war works. The Crying Souls was written as a response to the chemical weapons attacks that happened in August 2013 in Damascus when more than 1,300 innocent civilian including children were massacred. Yedid writes "This work expresses my endless sadness to the death of innocent people". In the notes on Delusions of War he writes "The music aims to make the listeners "feel" the human suffering that the war causes, and, without assuming to have answers, to encourage them to pause for a moment and to envisage better ways than force to resolve crises. The music captures emotions of anger and fear, and feelings of sorrow, tragedy and righteousness."^[15]

Compositions[]

Before 2005[]

• Remembering Yitzhak Rabin (2004) for piano solo (ca. 15')

Commissioned by Musa Records 1999

CD released in 1999 by Musa records

Yitzhak Yedid – piano

• Caravan for orchestra and jazz ensemble (ca. 17')

The Rubin Academy

• Tachanun (2004), Suite in one movement for piano, double bass and percussions (ca. 66')

Commissioned by Vienna music Gallery Festival, Austria

Duration: 66 minutes

Premiere Performance: September 2005, Vienna Music Gallery Festival

Yedid Ensemble (Vlad Nedelin – drums & percussions, Ora Boasson Horev – double bass, Yitzhak Yedid – piano)

2005–2018[]

• Myth of the Cave (2005) for clarinet/bass clarinet, double bass and piano (ca. 56')

Commissioned by Deutsche Structured Finance GmbH, Germany

CD released by Between The Lines

Premiere: May 2005, Frankfurt, Germany

Yedid Ensemble (François Houle – clarinet & bass clarinet; Ora Boasson-Horev – double bass; Yitzhak Yedid – piano)

• Tachanun (2005), Suite in one movement for piano solo (ca. 50')

Commissioned by Vienna Music Gallery Festival, Vienna, Austria

Premiere: Chamber Music Festival, Israel

Yitzhak Yedid – piano

• Full Moon Fantasy (2005) for piano solo (ca. 37')

Commissioned by Musa Records 2001

CD released in 1999 by Musa records; reissued in 2005

Yitzhak Yedid – piano

• Oud, Bass, Piano Trio (2006), Parts 3 (ca. 11')

Commissioned by the Oud International Festival

CD released by Challenge International Records and Between The Lines in August 2007

Premiere: 2006, Vancouver Festival

Yedid Ensemble (Michael Maroun – oud; Ora Boasson-Horev – double bass; Yitzhak Yedid – piano)

• Reflections upon Six Images (2006), Image 1, for clarinet, viola, double bass and piano (ca. 13')

Commissioned by Vienna Music Gallery Festival, Vienna, Austria

CD released by Between The Lines

Premiere: Vienna Music Gallery Festival

Yedid Ensemble (François Houle – clarinet & bass clarinet; Galia Hai – viola; Ora Boasson-Horev – double bass; Yitzhak Yedid – piano)

• Oud, Bass, Piano Trio (2006), Parts 1–2 (ca. 21')

Commissioned by the Oud International Festival

CD released by Challenge International Records and Between The Lines in August 2007

Premiere: May 2005, Sibiu Festival, Romania

Yedid Ensemble (Michael Maroun – oud; Ora Boasson-Horev – double bass; Yitzhak Yedid – piano)

• Ras Deshen (2006) for voice, saxophones, krar and piano (ca. 61')

Commissioned by MCI

CD released by MCI records

Premiere: Tel Aviv Arts Festival

Ras Deshen Ensemble (Abatte Barihun – voice and saxophones; Fentahon Malessa – krar; Yitzhak Yedid – piano)

• Nine Images (2007) for violin, cello and piano (ca. 18')

Commissioned by IBA

Premiere: March 2007, Jerusalem International YMCA, Jerusalem, Israel

Orit Wolf – piano; Nathaniel Vallois – violin; Doo-Min Kim – cello

• Chagall Project (2007), seven piano solo pieces inspired by Marc Chagall (ca. 42')

Commissioned by The Israeli Music Festival

Premiere: September 2007

CD released by Challenge International Records in September 2010

Yitzhak Yedid – piano

• Oud, Bass, Piano Trio (2007), Parts 4–5 (ca. 32')

Commissioned by the Oud International Festival

CD released by Challenge International Records and Between The Lines in August 2007

Premiere: May 2005, Sibiu Festival, Romania

Yedid Ensemble (Michael Maroun – oud; Ora Boasson-Horev – double-bass; Yitzhak Yedid – piano

• Reflections upon Six Images (2007), Images 2–3, for clarinet, viola, double bass and piano (ca. 27')

Commissioned by Vienna Music Gallery Festival, Vienna, Austria

CD released by Between The Lines

Premiere: Vienna Music Gallery Festival, Austria

Yedid Ensemble (François Houle – clarinet & bass-clarinet; Galia Hai – viola; Ora Boasson-Horev – double bass; Yitzhak Yedid – piano)

• Ethiopian voices: Psalms (2008) for three singers, Ethiopian folk dancer, alto, double bass and piano (ca. 51')

Commissioned by the Confederation House

Premiere: November 2008, Confederation House, Jerusalem, Israel

Ras Deshen Ensemble (Abatte Barihun – voice and saxophones; Esti Kenan Ofri – voice; Tzeta Germaye – voice and dance; Fentahon Malessa – krar; Ora Boasson-Horev – double bass; Yitzhak Yedid – piano)

• Clowns at Night (2008) for piano solo (ca. 16')

Commissioned by Deutsche Media Productions GmbH & Co. KG

Premiere: March 2008, Jerusalem International YMCA, Jerusalem, Israel

Yitzhak Yedid, piano

• String Quartet No 1 (2008) (ca. 14')

Commissioned by Deutsche Media Productions GmbH & Co. KG and Between The Lines

Premiere: March 2010, Henry Crown Symphony Hall, Jerusalem, Israel

Sapphire String Quartet (Janna Gandelman – violin; Roman Spitzer – violin; Amos Boasson – viola; Oleg Stolpner – cello)^[16]

• Since my Soul Loved (2008) for violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano (ca. 55')

Commissioned by Deutsche Media Productions GmbH & Co. KG and Between The Lines

Premiere: 2009 Lines Festival, Munich, Germany

Yedid Ensemble (Daniel Hoffman – violin; Galia Hai – viola; Yoni Gotlibovich – cello; Ora Boasson-Horev – double-bass; Yitzhak Yedid – piano)

• Midsummer Night's Dream (2008) for piano solo (ca. 21')

Commissioned by Deutsche Media Productions GmbH & Co. KG, 2006

Premiere: March 2008, Jerusalem International YMCA, Jerusalem, Israel

Yitzhak Yedid – piano

• Out to Infinity (2008) for harp solo (ca. 7')

Commissioned by Israel's 2009 17th International Harp Contest to celebrate its 50th anniversary, with the kind assistance of the Israel National Lottery Council for the Arts

World premiere: March 2009, American Harp Society National Harp Competition, Young Professional Division

Noël Wan, harp^[17]

Israeli premiere: October 2009, Tel Aviv, Israel

Various competing harpists

• In Memory (2009), duo for flute (piccolo and bass) and piano (ca. 13')

Commissioned by Lior Eitan

Premiere: 21 April 2010, Jerusalem International YMCA, Jerusalem, Israel

Lior Eitan – flute; Monica Fallon – piano

• String Quartet No 3 (2009) (ca. 13')

Commissioned by Sapphire String Quartet

Premiere: March 2010, Henry Crown Symphony Hall, Jerusalem, Israel

Sapphire String Quartet (Janna Gandelman – violin; Roman Spitzer – violin; Amos Boasson – viola; Oleg Stolpner – cello)^[18]

• Kidoshin (2009), duo for saxophone (tenor and soprano) and piano (ca. 26')

Commissioned by Shoham Foundation

Premiere: August 2010

Albert Beger – saxophone; Yitzhak Yedid – piano

• String Quartet No 2 (2009) (ca. 9')

Commissioned by Sapphire String Quartet

Premiere: March 2010, Henry Crown Symphony Hall, Jerusalem, Israel

Sapphire String Quartet (Janna Gandelman – violin; Roman Spitzer – violin; Amos Boasson – viola; Oleg Stolpner – cello)^[19]

• Sensations (2010) for piano, violin and cello (c. 14')

Commissioned by Atar Trio

Premiere: September 2010, Austria

Atar Trio (Tanya Beltser- violin; Marina Katz- cello; Ofer Shelley – piano)

• Piano Quintet (2010) for violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano (ca. 52')

Commissioned by Jazz Lines München 2011, Munich, Germany

Premiere: March 2011, Allerheiligen-Hofkirche, Jazz Lines München 2011l, Munich, Germany

Yedid Ensemble (Daniel Hoffman – violin; Galia Hai – viola; Yoni Gotlibovich – cello; Ora Boasson-Horev – double-bass; Yitzhak Yedid – piano)

• String Quartet No 4 (2010) (ca. 9')

Commissioned by Sapphire String Quartet

Premiere: November 2012, Jerusalem International YMCA, Jerusalem, Israel

Sapphire String Quartet (Janna Gandelman – violin; Roman Spitzer – violin; Amos Boasson – viola; Oleg Stolpner – cello)^[20]

• Through the Window of Marc Chagall (2010) for piano solo (c. 55')

Commissioned by Kawai Piano Series

Premiere: Kawai Piano Series, 2010, Ian Hanger Recital Hall, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia

Yitzhak Yedid, piano

• Reflections Upon Six Images (2011), Image no 5 for double bass solo (ca. 7')

Commissioned by Ora Boasson-Horev

Premiere: Vienna, Austria

CD released by Challenge International Records in September 2011

• Arabic Violin Bass Piano Trio (2011) for Arabic violin, double bass and piano, Parts 4–5 (ca. 18')

Commissioned by IBA, Between the Lines and Challenge Records

Premiere: November 2012

Yedid Ensemble (Sami Hashibun – violin (Arabic tuning); Ora Boasson-Horev – double-bass; Yitzhak Yedid – piano)

• String Quartet No 5 (2011) (ca. 11')

Commissioned by Sapphire String Quartet

Premiere: November 2012

Jerusalem International YMCA

Sapphire String Quartet (Janna Gandelman – violin; Roman Spitzer – violin; Amos Boasson – viola,;Oleg Stolpner – cello)^[21]

• Passions and Prayers, Sextet in hommage to Jerusalem (2011) for horn, clarinet/bass clarinet, trombone, viola, double bass and piano (ca. 18')

Commissioned by Deutsche Media Productions GmbH & Co. KG and Between The Lines

CD released by Between The Lines

Premiere: Seattle 2012

Seattle Chamber Players

• Passions & Prayers (2012) for horn, clarinet/bass clarinet, trombone, viola, double bass and piano (ca. 17')

Commissioned by Seattle Chamber Players

Premiere: August 2013, Benaroya Hall, Seattle, USA

Seattle Chamber Players

• String Quartet No 7 (2012) (ca. 11')

Commissioned by Sapphire String Quartet

Premiere: August 2013

Sapphire String Quartet (Janna Gandelman – violin; Roman Spitzer – violin; Amos Boasson – viola; Oleg Stolpner – cello)

• Haunted! (2012), Stage music for a play by Daniel Karasik (ca. 75')

Commissioned by Touchstone Theatre, Vancouver, Canada

Directed by Katrina Dunn

Premiere: Chutzpah! Festival, March 2013

Norman Rothstein Theatre, Vancouver, Canada

• String Quartet No 6 (2012) (ca. 16')

Commissioned by Sapphire String Quartet

Premiere: November 2012, Henry Crown Symphony Hall, Jerusalem, Israel

Sapphire String Quartet (Janna Gandelman – violin; Roman. Spitzer – violin; Amos Boasson – viola; Oleg Stolpner – cello)^[22]

• Arabic Violin Bass Piano Trio (2012) for Arabic violin, double bass and piano, Parts 1–3 (ca. 25')

Commissioned by IBA, Between The Lines and Challenge Records International

Premiere: November 2012

Yedid Ensemble: (Sami Hashibun – violin (Arabic tuning); Ora Boasson-Horev – double bass; Yitzhak Yedid – piano)

• The Crying Souls: Lament for Syrian Victims (2013) for 6-part a cappella choir (ca. 9')

Commissioned by The Australian Voices

Premiere: August 2013 at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem

The Australian Voices^[23]

• Psalm 1 (2014) for solo soprano (ca. 6')

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts

• Delusions of War (2014) for 22 string soloists or a string orchestra (ca. 24')

Commissioned by Divertimenti and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts

World premiere: October 2014 at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia

• Violin (Arabic Violin) Concerto (2015) for violin and a large orchestra (ca. 25')

Commissioned by the Israeli Music Festival^[24]

Divertimenti

Israeli premiere: February 2015 at the Henry Crown Symphony Hall

Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yuval Zorn^[25]

Broadcast live on Israel Broadcasting Authority's (IBA) Kol Ha'Musika station

• Zikaron^[26] (2013–14), a structured improvisation for piano solo (ca. 55')

Commissioned by Kawai Piano Series

Premiere: April 2015, Kawai Piano Series, Ian Hanger Recital Hall, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University

Yitzhak Yedid, piano

• Piano Concerto for Michael Kieran Harvey (2016) for piano and symphony orchestra (ca. 20')

Commissioned by the Tel Aviv Soloists and Australian pianist Michael Kieran Harvey

World premiere: 6 October 2016, Ian Hanger Recital Hall,^[27] Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia

Divertimenti^[28] conducted by Graeme Jennings^[29]

Israeli premiere: 20 May 2017, Tel Aviv, Israel

Michael Kieran Harvey, piano; Tel Aviv Soloists

• Angels' Revolt (2016) (ca. 10')

Commissioned by the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, Queensland, Australia

Compolsery work at the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition [4]

Premiere: September 2017

Premiere: 20 July 2017, Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music, by Graeme Jennings

• Chad Gadya (2017, for clarinet violin, cello and piano (ca. 12')

Commissioned by Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival

Premiere: 30 July 2017, Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival Concert 6, Dunwich Public Hall, Dunwich, North Stradbroke Island, Australia

William Stafford, clarinet; Rachel Smith, violin; Louise King, cello; Ayesha Gough, piano

• Kidoshim & Killolim (2017), for chamber orchestra

Commissioned by Swedish trombonist Christian Lindberg and the Israel Netanya Kibbutz Orchestra

Premiere: NK Orchestra in October & November 2017

• Music for Ancient Rituals (2018, for 13 wind instruments (ca. 10')

Commissioned by ANAM

Premiere: 12 September 2018, South Melbourne Town Hall Melbourne, Australia

Eliza Shephard, Flute/Piccolo; , Flute; Nick Deutsch, Oboe; Owen Jackson, Oboe; Dimitri Ashkenazy, Clarinet; Mitchell Jones, Clarinet; Lyndon Watts, Bassoon; Carol Wang, Bassoon; Matthew Ventura, Contrabassoon; Marie Luise Neunecker, Horn; William Tanner, Horn; Freya Hombergen, Horn; Maraika Smit, Horn; Fabian Rusell, Conductor

• MAQA VIOLIN (2018, for violin solo (ca. 16')

Commissioned by Graeme Jennings and Karen Bentley Pollick.

Publications[]

• 2001: Analysis of "Tachanun" (2001) WMG, Austria
• 2002: Myth and Music, Allegory of the Cave, CD Liner notes, Vienna New Music Festival Booklet and
• 2003: Analysis of "Passions & Prayers, Sextet in Homage to Jerusalem" CD Liner notes and Israel Festival program.
• 2004: Analysis of "Reflections Upon Six Images" IBA channel
• 2005: "Psalms", Ethiopian tradition Kessim Liturgy Liner notes. Confederation House Program.
• 2005: Analysis of "Oud-Bass-Piano Trio" IBA channel, Israel
• 2006: Analysis of "Since my soul Loved" Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), Israel
• 2007: Oud Bass Piano Trio – New music incorporating a spectrum of contemporary and ancient styles. Sibiu Festival booklet (Romania), Vienna Festival booklet (Austria), International Oud Festival booklet.
• 2008: Analysis of "Out to Infinity"

Discography[]

• 1999 Full Moon Fantasy
• 2001 Inner Outcry
• 2002 Ras Deshen
• 2003 Myth of the Cave
• 2005 Passions & Prayers, Sextet in Homage to Jerusalem
• 2006 Reflections upon Six Images
• 2008 Oud Bass Piano Trio
• 2009 Since My Soul Loved
• 2010 Through the Window of Marc Chagall
• 2012 Arabic Violin Bass Piano Trio
• 2014 Visions, Fantasies and Dances: Music for String Quartet Sapphire String Quartet
• 2019 Angels' Revolt

Live radio broadcasts[]

• 2001: Chamber Music Festival, Galile. Recording to television of "Tachanun"
• 2003: Tel Aviv Festival. Recording to television of "Ras Deshen"
• 2004: IBA, Israel. Live recording concert of "Reflections Upon Six Images"
• 2005: Sibiu, Romania. Live recording concert for Radio and Television of "Oud-Bass-Piano Trio"
• 2006: Vilnius Radio, Lithuania. Live recording concert for Radio and Television of "Myth of the Cave"
• 2007: IBA, Israel. Live recording concert of "Nine Images for Violin Cello & Piano"
• 2008: IBA, Israel. Live recording concert of "Visions, Fantasies & Dances" & "Myth of the Cave"

Awards and honors[]

Yitzhak Yedid has been announced as the winner of the Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music. His winning composition, Kiddushim Ve’ Killulim (Blessings and Curses), was unanimously declared the best new major work of Jewish music by the judges of the Canadian prize. Scored for 13 players, it combines Jewish musical sources with contemporary Western art music. Yedid receives a total prize package valued at over $200,000 CAD, which includes a cash award of $50,000 CAD (approximately $55,000 AUD); a world premiere performance of his work by Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne in October; two subsequent international performances; and a recording released on the Analekta label.[5]

Yedid won the 2017 Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship worth $160,000 over a two-year period.^[30] The Sidney Myer Creative Fellowships recognise outstanding talent and exceptional courage. Yedid awarded the top two prizes in Israel for composers and performers: the Prime Minister's Prize for Composers (2007) and the Landau Prize for Performing Arts (2009).^[4] In 2008 he was awarded the first composition prize for solo work for harp at the 17th International Harp contest which led to numerous performances of the piece worldwide and to two commercial recordings. Yedid has also been awarded a composer-in- residence position at the Judith Wright Centre (Brisbane, 2010) and at the Western Australian Academy of Performing arts (2008). His album Arabic violin Bass Piano Trio was nominated for the 2012 Australian Jazz Bell Awards.^[11][31]

• ACUM Prize, 2016
• Australia Council for the Arts composition grants
• ACUM Prize, 2013
• Artist-in-Residence (2010), The Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts
• Australian Postgraduate Award (2009–12), The Australian Government
• Landau Prize for Performing Arts (2009), The Michael Landau Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel
• First prize for a work for harp solo ("Out of Infinity") (2008), Israel's International Harp Contest, 50th Anniversary
• Prime Minister Award for Composers (2007), The Ministry of Culture and Education, Jerusalem, Israel
• The Jerusalem International Oud Festival Prize (2006), The Center for Ethnic Music and Poetry, The Kalman Sultanik Confederation

See also[]

• Israeli music

References[]

External links[]

• Official site
• YouTube channel
• Australian Music Center
• Music Teachers Online
• Drouat, John (2008), "Yitzhak Yedid, Oud Bass Piano Trio, Between the Lines", Downbeat, October 2008, p. 76 (.pdf)
• Caemmerer, Arjun von. (2013), "Where Angels Fear to Tread" in Australian Jazz Magazine, 27 October 2013
• McBeath, John (2013), "Yitzhak Yedid - Suite in Four Movements", Jazz and Beyond, 2013 Archives (Published in The Australian, June 2013)
• Caemmerer, Arjun von (2014), "Singing the Baqashot – reflections on Yitzak Yedid's Visions, Fantasies and Dances" in Australian Jazz Magazine, 23 December 2014
• Mitchell, Roger, "And the Winners Are ...", in Ausjazz, 26 April 2013
• "Yitzhak Yedid wins a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship"