Shlomo Gronich
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Shlomo Gronich | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | January 20, 1949 Hadera, Israel |
| Genre(s) | Israeli pop, Israeli R&B, Israeli rock, Middle Eastern music, soul music, Mizrahi, hassidic, improvization |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader |
| Instrument(s) | Singing, piano, accordion, darbouka |
Shlomo Gronich (born January 20, 1949 in Hadera; Hebrew: שלמה גרוניך) is a male Israeli composer, singer, songwriter, arranger, and choir conductor.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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
[edit] 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)
[edit] 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)
[edit] 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)
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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)
[edit] Notable Prizes
- 2001 Hadassah Award, for his work with the Sheba Choir
[edit] 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
