Alex Jacobowitz
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During the 1980s and 1990s, classically-trained street performer Alex Jacobowitz (born May 19, 1960 in New York) played solos on his giant xylophone virtually everywhere in New York City: Lincoln Center's "Meet the Artist" program, Yeshiva University, Zabar´s, Central Park, the 84th Street Synagogue, International House, the New York Hilton, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Coney Island's "Sideshows by the Seashore", etc. For many years he was an Official Street Performer at the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan, a member of Musicians Under New York, Young Audiences of Rochester, and other organizations. He has performed at Arts Councils and Imagination Celebrations throughout New York State, and is the recipient of a Meet the Composer award. He has performed on Entertainment Tonight, and has been an artist-in-residence at Artpark (New York) and Holland Village (Japan)
In 1991, he shifted his street-show activity primarily to Europe, from Aachen to Zürich, and most cities in between. Jacobowitz has performed classic and Jewish traditional music for millions of television viewers in Germany (ARD, ZDF, Third Programmes), and occasionally in Hungary, Israel, Italy, Luxemburg, South Korea, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Russia and Ukraine.
In 1994, he began the study of traditional Jewish instrumental music (klezmer) with Giora Feidman. In 1997, he encountered Brave Old World in concert, and shortly thereafter intensified his Jewish music activities under Alan Bern, their musical director.
In 2006, he was one of the few street-performers invited to perform at the Busker's Festival in Ferrara, Italy, the largest and most important festival of its kind.
Solo klezmer appearances include:
- Festivals in Jerusalem, Schleswig-Holstein, Safed, Kraków, Fürth, Bamberg, etc.
- Synagogues throughout Germany, including Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue in Berlin
- Chabad Houses in Prague, Geneva, Zürich, etc.
- The Jewish Museum in Frankfurt, Hackescher Hoftheater in Berlin
- Jewish communities in Basel, Berlin, Leipzig, Lisbon, Munich, Vienna, many other European cities.
- Kibbutz Nahal Oz, Kibbutz Ma'ale HaChamisha, Settlement Mitzpe Jericho, etc.
- Jewish weddings, bar mitzvas and yeshivas throughout the world
He has performed with Shelly Lang's Neshoma Orchestra (NYC), the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Kammerphilharmoniker and others.
His Art of Xylos CD was released in 2002 by Sony-BMG under the Arte Nova label, and was nominated for the Echo Prize (Germany's Grammy) under the crossover category. His book A Classical Klezmer: Travel Stories of a Jewish Musician (1998, Munich) is being prepared for its third edition. He endorses xylophones produced by Adams Company, Holland.
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[edit] Recordings
- ¡Marimba! - Bach, Beethoven, Couperin. Analogue. (1986)
- Aria - Classical works by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Scarlatti, Albéniz, Tárrega. Digital. (1995)
- The Art of Touching Wood - the music of J.S. Bach. Digital. (1996)
- Spanish Rosewood - the music of Spain: D. Scarlatti, Granados, Tárrega, Albéniz, etc. Digital (1997)
- Etz Chaim (Tree of Life) - Jewish traditional: Synagogue music, Yiddish and Israeli songs, klezmer. Digital (1998)
- The Art of Xylos - de Falla, J.S. Bach, Tárrega, Mussorgsky, Schumann, Beethoven, Mozart, Satie, etc. Surround (2002) BMG Entertainment
- Fantasy - the music of J.S. Bach. Surround (2006)
[edit] Film Appearances
- Sounds to Heaven - Dir. Idit Gideoni, 1991, Israel
- "Spielmaenner" - Bayerischer Rundfunk, 1995, Germany
- Denk ich an Deutschland...: Ein Fremder. - Dir. Peter Lilienthal, Germany, 2001
- Magic Marimbas - Dir. Eveline Hempel, 2003, Germany
- Klezmer on Fish Street - Dir. Yale Strom, 2004, USA
- Auf jüdischem Parkett - Dir. Esther Slevogt & Arielle Artsztein, Germany, 2005
[edit] References
A Classical Klezmer: Travel Stories of a Jewish Musician, by Alex Jacobowitz. Tree of Life, Munich, 1998.
www.alexjacobowitz.com
[edit] External links
- Alex Jacobowitz's web site
- Adams Music Instruments in Holland
- www.marimba.org
- Klezmer music in Germany
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jacobowitz, Alex |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | classically-trained street performer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 19, 1960 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
